FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

of  the 

Reformed  and 
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A  MISSION  STUDY  MANUAL  ON  THE 
REFORMATION 


BY 

REV.  PROF.  JAMES  I.  GOOD,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Professor  of  Reformed  Church  History  in 
Central  Theological  Seminary- 
Author  of  "*  Famous  Women  of  the  Reformed  Church, "  Famous 
Missionaries  of  the  Reformed  Churches,"  Famous  Places 
of  the  Reformed  Churches,"  Origin  and  History  of  the 
Reformed  Church  of  Germany,"  "History  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  in  the  United  States,"  "  History  of  the 
Reformed  Church  of  Switzerland  since  the  Reformation," 
"  Historical    Handbook    of   the    Reformed    Church,"    etc 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  HOME  AND   FOREIGN  MISSION 

BOARDS  OF  THE  REFORMED  CHURCH 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


THE  HEIDELBERG  PRESS 

Fifteenth  and  Race  Streets 

Philadelphia,   Pa. 

1916 


Entered,  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1916  by 

Rev.  James  I.  Good,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington 


PRESS    OF    BERGER    BROTHERS 

PHILADELPHIA 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Fore-word  vii 

Preface    • ix 

Chapter  1 — Zwingli  and  Luther 1 

Chapter  II — Zwingli  and  his  Co-laborers,  Juda,  Ecolani- 

padius  and  Vadian 21 

Chapter  III — The  Completion  of  the  Reformation  in 
German  Switzerland  by  Haller  and 
Bullinger,  and  its  Beginning  in  French 
Switzerland  by  Farel  41 

Chapter  IV— The  Life  and  Work  of  John  Calvin 61 

Chapter  V— The  Completion  of  the  Reformation  in 
French  Switzerland  by  Viret  and  Beza, 
and  the  Reformation  in  Holland 82 

Chapter  VI — The    Reformed    Reformers    of    Germany, 

Bucer  and  the  Heidelberg  Catechism..   101 

Chapter  VII — The  Reformers  of  Poland,  Hungary,  Italy 

and  the  Jews 121 

Chapter  VIII — The  Reformers  of  Scotland,  Hamilton, 

Wishart  and  Knox  141 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

The  City  of  Zurich Frontispiece 

Ulric  Zwingli 1 

The  Conference  at  Marburg 21 

The  City  of  Geneva 41 

Farel's  Call  to  Calvin 61 

The  Escalade  at  Geneva 82 

The  City  of  Heidelberg 101 

The  Tomb  of  William  of  Orange  at  Delft 121 

Knox  and  Queen  Mary 141 


FOREWORD 


One  of  the  promising  tendencies  in  the  sphere  of 
present-day  religious  life,  especially  among  the  young  peo- 
ple, is  the  growing  interest  in  the  study  of  the  history  of 
the  Christian  Church.  "Bible  and  Mission  Study  Classes" — 
the  combination  of  terms  is  itself  highly  significant — are 
being  successfully  organized  and  maintained  by  so  many 
agencies  directly  and  indirectly  connected  with  the  Church, 
that  we  may  fairly  cherish  the  hope  that,  not  only  among 
youthful  converts,  but  also  among  older  members  in  our 
households  of  faith,  the  zeal  that  is  so  marked  and  so 
admirable  a  feature  of  our  religious  activities  may  be  in- 
creasingly tempered  with  that  knowledge  which  is  ever  the 
prime  requisite  for  the  cultivation  of  the  noblest  types  of 
character  and  the  promotion  of  the  best  forms  of  service. 

And  if  truth  is  never  more  potent  than  when  it  is  seen 
incarnated  in  human  life,  surely  the  study  of  the  great 
Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century — the  leaders  in  that 
wondrous  anabasis  that  brought  the  Church  out  of  her 
medieval  tutelage  into  the  spacious  liberties  of  the  modern 
era — will  ever  be  an  effective  means  for  the  deepening  and 
enriching  of  our  conception  of  what  Christianity  is  and  what 
it  may  become. 

I  therefore  heartily  welcome  this  "Mission  Study 
Manual  on  the  Reformation."  The  author's  many  publica- 
tions in  this  particular  field  and  his  long  experience  as  a 
professor  of  history  in  a  theological  seminary  are  a  suffi- 
cient guarantee  for  the  general  excellence  of  his  work.  He 
has  succeeded  in  sketching  the  careers  and  achievements  of 
the  Reformers  with  admirable  simplicity,  clearness  and  con- 


viii  FOREWORD 

ciseness,  and  in  maintaining  a  due  proportion  among  the 
varied  elements  of  the  outline  as  a  whole.  The  style  is 
frequently  brightened  with  picturesque  and  dramatic  touches 
and  with  references  to  historic  landmarks  and  memorials 
that  reveal  the  sympathetic  interest  of  the  narrator  as  an 
eyewitness.  After  the  approved  fashion  in  works  of  this 
sort,  each  chapter  is  followed  by  a  series  of  questions  de- 
signed to  bring  out  the  salient  features  of  the  text  for  the 
purpose  of  a  class  review.  As  explained  in  the  Preface,  the 
book  is  adjusted  to  the  specific  purpose  of  stimulating  popu- 
lar interest  in  the  study  of  the  Reformation  considered 
primarily,  though  not  exclusively,  as  an  evangelistic  and 
missionary  enterprise. 

We  congratulate  the  author  on  the  completion  of  this 
Manual  on  the  eve  of  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  beginning  of  the  Reformation,  and  express  the  hope 
that  the  book  may  be  widely  useful  in  spreading  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Church  of  that  period,  and  by  this  means 
furthering  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  in  our 
own  day. 

Frederick  W.  Loetscher. 
Princeton   Theological   Seminary, 
May  15,   1916. 


PREFACE 


The  Reformation  is  a  fitting  study  for  its  400th  anni- 
versary (1917).  We  have  endeavored  in  this  Mission  Study 
Manual  to  gather  together,  in  as  brief  and  popular  a  way 
as  possible,  the  leading  facts  about  the  Reformers,  especially 
of  the  Reformed  Churches.  As  this  is  to  be  a  Missionary 
Manual,  we  have,  of  course,  emphasized  the  missionary 
spirit  of  the  Reformers,  an  aspect  which  has  been  generally 
forgotten. 

The  Reformation  and  missions,  what  have  they  to  do 
with  each  other?  This, — that  the  Reformation  was  a  great 
missionary  movement,  one  of  the  greatest  the  Christian 
Church  has  ever  seen;  and  it  was  both  home  and  foreign 
missions.  The  Reformation  has  been  studied  from  many 
standpoints,  as  a  political  movement,  or  as  a  polemical  or 
a  theological  one,  or  as  economic  or  moral  or  ecclesiastical. 
But  to  its  missionary  aspect  little  attention  has  been  paid. 
Why  should  this  be.  It  has  been  looked  upon  as  mainly  the 
arena  of  great  doctrinal  controversies  or  ecclesiastical  strife, 
and  its  soul-saving  feature  has  been  forgotten?  We  fear 
that  its  polemics  have  caused  some  in  this  peace-loving  age 
to  turn  away  from  it.  They  will  recover  their  interest  when 
its  practical  evangelistic  spirit  is  fully  brought  out  as  in 
this  book.  The  Reformation  was  a  great  missionary  move- 
ment as  much  as  any  that  we  call  missionary  or  evan- 
gelistic  to-day. 

We  in  this  distant  age,  so  long  after  the  Reformation, 
are  apt  to  consider  it  a  sort  of  ready-made  thing  and  to 
forget  that  it  required  a  tremendous  amount  of  hand-to- 
hand,  personal  work  to  make   it  a  success.     Andrew  first 


x  PREFACE 

found  Peter,  and  John,  James;  these  apostolic  examples 
were  followed  in  the  Reformation.  For,  although  the  Ref- 
ormation was  largely  a  social  movement  that  brought  cer- 
tain individuals  to  the  front,  as  Luther  and  Zwingli;  yet, 
after  all,  the  personal  element  must  not  be  forgotten,  for 
it  bulked  largely  in  the  success  of  the  movement.  And  this 
personal  effort  was  missionary  effort.  We  art  apt  to  forget 
that  the  Reformation  was  real  missionary  work — a  calling 
of  souls  out  of  the  darkness  produced  by  the  superstitions 
of  Rome  into  the  light  of  the  Gospel  of  grace  through 
Christ.  And  we  forget  that  it  began  first  with  one  man 
or  a  few  men,  who  gathered  others  around  them  and  thus 
the  Reformation  spread  in  ever-widening  circles.  The  cause 
of  its  spread  was  missionary, — a  zeal  for  souls, — a  desire  to 
tell  them  the  new  joy  found  in  Protestantism.  The  Ref- 
ormation was  just  as  much  missionary  as  our  sending 
missionaries  to  Catholic  lands,  as  Spain  and  Mexico  and 
South  America,  to-day.  We  name  the  latter  "missionaries." 
And  there  has  just  been  held  a  great  missionary  convention 
at  Panama  to  consider  their  work,  for  Latin-America  is 
very  much  in  the  condition  of  Europe  at  the  Reformation. 
And  if  these  who  go  to  Latin-America  to-day  are  called 
"missionaries,"  then  the  Reformers  and  their  co-workers 
should  be  called  so,  too,  for  they  did  the  same  kind  of 
work  among  the  same  kind  of  people. 

The  Reformers  talked  to  those  around  them  about 
their  new  Gospel.  They  wrote  many,  many  letters — a  tre- 
mendous correspondence  to  persons  and  places,  trying  to 
lead  them  to  the  Evangelical  faith.  Church  historians  have 
made  much  of  the  doctrinal  treatises  of  the  Reformers  and 
forgotten  their  correspondence,  which  is  full  of  evangelism. 
Never  since  the  days  of  the  Apostle  Paul  and  his  Epistles 
was  there  so  much  consecrated  letter-writing  as  in  the 
Reformation;  and  much  of  it  was  missionary,  for  its  aim 
was  the  spread  of  the  Reformation  by  the  conversion  of 
individuals,  cities  or  countries.  The  Reformers  labored  in 
their   home   towns   and   districts,   and   so   were   home   mis- 


PREFACE  xi 

sionaries;  they  also  sent  missionaries  out  into  districts  as 
yet  unevangelized,  and  so  there  were  foreign  missionaries. 
.This  was  more  true  of  the  Reformed  than  of  the  Lutheran, 
as  the  Reformed  spread  more  widely.  The  Lutherans  had 
this  missionary  spirit,  and  spread  their  gospel  from  Ger- 
many to  Scandinavian  lands;  but  the  Reformed  spread  their 
gospel  over  all  Europe  except  Scandinavia.  But  for  their 
missonary  and  evangelistic  zeal,  we  would  not  have  our 
Church  to-day. 

Perhaps,  to  further  elucidate  this  point,  we  may  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  there  have  been  and  are  three 
definitions  of  missions. 

1.  Only  those  are  missions  that  are  sent  to  non- 
Christian  peoples.  But  this  view  has  been  given  up  by 
most  Protestants  as  too  narrow. 

2.  Missions  include  also  the  efforts  to  evangelize 
Christians  who  are  not  Protestant,  as  the  Roman  Catholics, 
Copts,  etc.    This  view  has  been  generally  accepted. 

3.  Missions  also  include  evangelization.  This  is  the 
later  view,  and  tends  to  make  missions  and  evangelization 
run  into  each  other.  Thus  revival  services  in  our  Churches 
are  often  called  "missions."  Evangelistic  movements  in 
our  Christian  lands  are  named  "missions."  It  is  this  evan- 
gelistic aspect  of  the  Reformation  that  becomes  prominent 
in  this  book,  although  we  believe  that  its  definition  of 
missions  would  be  the  second,  for  its  work  was  the  con- 
version of  Roman  Catholics  to  the  Evangelical  Gospel.* 

We  have  endeavored  in  this  book  to  prevent  monotony 
and  stimulate  interest  by  calling  attention  to  some  special 
peculiarity  in  the  life  of  each  Reformer.  Of  course,  in  so 
brief  a  treatise  much  is  omitted.  And  we  especially  regret 
that,  on  account  of  lack  of  space,  some  of  the  Reformers,  as 
Lambert  of  Avignon,  Blaurer  of  Constance,  and  Capito  of 
Strasburg,  have  to  be  omitted.    But,  because  we  have  thus 

*  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  this  book  is  written  for 
the  Home  Mission  Board  as  well  as  for  the  Foreign  Board. 


xii  PREFACE 

limited  the  number  of  Reformers,  we  believe  that  their 
story  will  come  out  more  vividly.  And,  though  we  have 
thus  abbreviated  the  history,  we  believe  that  the  great# 
body  of  the  most  important  facts  of  the  Reformation  is 
given,  and  given  in  their  latest  light.  The  colors  in  which 
this  book  is  bound  are  historically  significant.  The  colors 
of  Zwingli  were  black  and  old  gold.  The  cloth  edition  is 
bound  in  these  colors.  The  paper  edition  is  bound  in  black 
and  gold.  The  nearest  to  the  Zwingli  colors  that  could  be 
gotten,  owing  to  the  difficulties  caused  by  the  European  war. 
A  cheap  library  of  popular  biographies  has  been  pre- 
pared that  ought  to  be  used  by  the  class  in  this  study,  and 
when  the  class  is  through  with  them,  they  can  be  put  into 
the  Sunday  School  library.  They  are  Blackburn's  "Ulric 
Zwingli,"  Blackburn's  "William  Farel,"  Vollmer's  "John 
Calvin,"  Good's  "The  Heidelberg  Catechism  in  Its  Newest 
Light,"  and  McCrie's  "John  Knox."  They  can  be  purchased 
for  $2.85  a  set.*  The  Presbyterians  may  not  want  the 
work  on  the  "Heidelberg  Catechism,"  and  the  Reformed 
may  not  want  the  "Life  of  Knox,"  and  they  can  be  deducted. 
But,  as  the  set  is  so  cheap,  the  whole  set  ought  to  be  bought 
for  use  by  the  class  and  then  placed  in  the  Sunday  School 
library.  The  most  important  works  for  the  teacher  are 
those  of  the  "Heroes  of  the  Reformation"  series,  as  Jack- 
son's "Zwingli,"  Walker's  "Calvin,"  Baird's  "Beza,"  and 
Cowan's  "Knox."  In  the  study  of  this  Manual,  the  Pres- 
byterians may  leave  out  the  part  on  the  Heidelberg  cate- 
chism, and  the  Reformed  may  omit  the  last  chapter  on 
Scotland,  though  we  believe  that  in  doing  so,  each  will  lose 
more  than  they  think.  A  small  leaflet  will  accompany  this 
book,  intended  for  the  use  of  its  teachers  in  Mission  Study 
Classes,  suggesting  books  and  helps  for  preparation  in 
teaching.*  The  author  would  also  suggest  to  teachers  of 
this   book  that  questions   of   doctrines   should   be   entirely 

*  The  books  and  leaflet  can  be  gotten  from  the  Reformed 
Publication  Board,  15th  and  Race  Streets,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


PREFACE  xiii 

subordinated  to  those  of  missions  and  evangelism.  For  this 
is  a  mission  study  book  and  missions  should  come  to 
the  fore. 

The  author  desires  to  express  his  gratefulness  to  Rev. 
Prof.  Frederick  W.  Loetscher,  D.D.,  Rev.  C.  E.  Schaeffer, 
D.D.,  Rev.  W.  E.  Lampe,  Rev.  J.  G.  Rupp  and  to  Mr. 
John  H.  Poorman  for  suggestions  made  on  the  manuscript 
of  the  book. 

He  would  also  add  that  this  volume  forms  another  of  a 
set  of  works  that  he  has  for  a  number  of  years  been  writ- 
ing, as  "Famous  Women  of  the  Reformed  Church,"  "Famous 
Missionaries  of  the  Reformed  Churches,"  and  "Famous 
Places  of  the  Reformed  Churches."  This  "Famous  Reform- 
ers of  the  Reformed  Churches"  adds  to  that  set  its  fourth 
volume.  We  hope  at  some  time  to  complete  the  set  by  a 
last  volume  on  "Famous  Men  of  the  Reformed  Churches." 
We  now  leave  this  volume  to  its  readers,  hoping  that  the 
reading  and  study  of  it  will  be  both  educational  and  inspira- 
tional— especially  inspirational  for  missionary  work;  and 
that  the  Lord  may  use  it  in  the  furtherance  of  His  kingdom 
on  earth. 


OVM  PATRLfe  qyA.RO  PKK  DOGMATA  SANCTA   WLVTTN' 
INGK.^O  TATRbt C/tSVs  AB  ENS£  CM 


ULRICII    ZWINGLI 


FAMOUS    REFORMERS 

CHAPTER  I 
The;  First  Reformers — Zwingu  and  Luther 

I.     The  Reformation  and  Missions. 

The  Reformation,  that  great  movement  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  out  of  which  Protestantism  was  born,  can  be 
viewed  from  different  standpoints.  It  has  been  looked  at 
in  Church  History  largely  as  a  polemical  movement — as  a 
tremendous  controversy  in  doctrine  and  religious  life  be- 
tween Roman  Catholicism  and  Protestantism.  But,  as  this 
is  a  missionary  study-book,  we  will  look  upon  it  as  an 
evangelistic  and  missionary  movement,  and  this  will  give 
a  new  perspective  to  it.*  For  evangelization  played  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  work  of  the  Reformers.  They  did  personal 
hand-to-hand  work;  and  they  also  either  went  themselves 
or  sent  missionaries  into  regions  as  yet  unevangelized  by 
Protestantism. 

It  will  be  an  interesting  study,  we  hope,  to  watch  the 
birth  and  growth  of  the  missionary  spirit  in  the  Reformers 
and  to  see  how  they  struck  the  keynote  for  all  the  future 
Protestants.  The  Reformation  was  a  great  missionary  re- 
vival. Would  that  the  Protestant  Church  since  the  Reforma- 
tion had  had  the  missionary  zeal  the  Reformers  had!  Our 
great  modern  missionary  movements  are  only  a  return  to 
that  of  the  Reformation.  That  founded  the  Protestant 
Church;   this  converts  a  world.     The  Reformation  is  there- 

*  For  a  defence  of  this  aspect,  see  the  preface. 


2  FAMOUS   REFORMERS 

fore    a    very    suitable    mission    study    for    1917,    its    400th 
anniversary. 

II.  Preparation  for  the  Reformation. 

The  preparation  for  the  Reformation  was  of  two  kinds, 
a  secular  and  a  religious  one. 

1.  Viewed  secularly,  there  were  five  events  that  led 
the  way  to  it.  Three  of  them  were  mechanical  inventions: 
printing,  the  compass  and  gunpowder.  One  was  geograph- 
ical: the  discovery  of  America  in  1492.  And  the  fifth  was 
historical:  the  capture  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  which  forced  eastern  scholars  west- 
ward, and  so  led  to  humanism,  or  the  revival  of  classic 
education. 

2.  The  religious  preparation  lay  in  three  "Reformers 
before  the  Reformation":  Wickliffe,  Huss  and  Savonarola. 
Wickliffe  was  an  Englishman,  and  was  the  most  Protestant 
of  them  all,  holding  to  the  supremacy  of  Scripture  and 
denying  transubstantiation.  Huss  was  a  Bohemian,  and 
held  to  the  supremacy  of  Scripture,  but  still  held  to  tran- 
substantiation. Savonarola  was  an  Italian,  and  was  a  full 
Catholic  in  doctrine,  but  prepared  for  the  Reformation  by 
his  denunciations  of  the  evils  of  the  papacy.  The  last  two 
were  martyred.  Luther  was  somewhat  influenced  by  Huss, 
and  Zwingli,  perhaps,  by  Savonarola  through  Picus  de 
Mirandola. 

III.  Birth  and  Education. 

Ulrich  Zwingli,  the  founder  of  the  Reformed  Churches, 
was  born  in  northeastern  Switzerland,  at  the  village  of 
Wildhaus,  in  the  canton  of  St.  Gall,  which  is  located  in  a 
high  valley  about  4,000  feet  above  sea-level.  The  low  Swiss 
chalet,  in  which  he  was  born,  January  1,  1484,  is  there 
to-day,  black  with  age.  Zwingli's  father,  the  magistrate  of 
the  district,  saw  he  was  too  bright  to  be  a  shepherd  boy, 
and  at  the  age  of  eight  sent  him  away  to  school.  His 
education   was   guided   by   his   uncle,   his   father's   brother, 


.    ZWINGLI'S  EDUCATION  3 

who  was  priest  at  Wesen,  about  fifteen  miles  south  of 
Wildhaus.  There  was  a  providence  in  this,  for  his  uncle 
was  inclined  to  the  new  learning  of  that  day,  called  human- 
ism. Its  more  liberal  spirit  reacted  against  the  narrow 
scholasticism  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  thus  prepared 
the  way  for  the  Reformation.  It  was  the  liberalizing  in- 
fluence of  this  uncle  that  prepared  Zwingli  to  later  become 
the  Reformer. 

After  studying  in  his  uncle's  school  for  two  years,  he 
was  sent  to  school  to  Little  Basle  (opposite  Basle,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Rhine),  where  he  began  to  reveal  remark- 
able ability  in  his  studies,  especially  in  debate  and  music. 
About  three  years  later  he  was  sent  to  the  school  at  Bern, 
which  was  noted  for  its  humanism,  and  he  remained  there 
until  sixteen  years  of  age.  His  stay  there  was  cut  short 
by  this  incident.  He  later  became  the  most  musical  of  all 
the  Reformers,  playing  seven  instruments.  The  Dominican 
monks  at  Bern,  seeing  his  ability  and  remarkable  love  for 
music,  tried  to  get  him  to  join  their  Order.  Had  he  done 
so,  he  would  have  become  a  monk-reformer,  as  was  Luther. 
But  providence  wanted  the  Reformation  in  Switzerland  to 
be  different  from  that  of  Luther, — to  be  begun  by  a  priest- 
reformer,  and  by  one  who  was,  especially,  a  scholar  in  the 
new  learning,  humanism.  Zwingli  had  gone  so  far  toward 
joining  the  Dominicans  as  to  live  in  their  monastery. 
But  then  came  the  command  of  his  father,  perhaps  at  the 
instigation  of  his  liberal-minded  uncle,  calling  him  home, 
so  that  he  might  be  saved  from  monkhood.  He  was  then 
sent  to  the  university  of  Vienna,  where  he  remained  for 
two  years,  giving  attention  especially  t  o  philosophical 
studies,  though  there  were  humanistic  influences  there. 

IV.     The  Crisis  in  His  Education. 

Zwingli  progressed  rapidly  in  his  education.  In  1502 
he  returned  to  Basle  to  teach,  and  also  to  study  in  the  uni- 
versity. Here,  fortunately,  he  attended  the  lectures  of  a 
Professor  Thomas  Wyttenbach.     Wyttenbach  had'  been  born 


4  FAMOUS    REFORMERS 

at  Biel,  a  town  west  of  Bern,  and,  after  lecturing  at  Basle 
to  Zwingli,  he  some  years  later  went  back  to  his  birthplace 
to  become  its  Protestant  Reformer.  Just  as  Ananias,  who 
brought  Paul  out  of  the  darkness  of  soul  at  Damascus,  is 
forgotten  in  the  greater  glory  of  his  convert,  so  Wyttenbach 
is  forgotten  in  the  greater  glory  of  his  pupil,  Zwingli. 
Zwingli  always  spoke  of  him  as  "the  most  learned  and 
holiest  of  men,"  and  in  his  letters  calls  him  "his  dear  pre- 
ceptor." This  reveals  the  debt  that  he  felt  he  owed  to  his 
teacher. 

Wyttenbach  planted  in  his  mind  three  seed-thoughts, 
that  afterward  came  to  harvest  and  produced  the  Reforma- 
tion. Luther  became  a  Reformer  by  emphasizing  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith,  but  Zwingli  approached  the 
Reformation  from  a  somewhat  different  viewpoint,  namely 
(and  these  were  the  three  seed-thoughts  that  Wyttenbach 
taught  him) : 

1.  The  supreme  authority  of  Scripture, — the  Bible  was 
to  be  the  guide  rather  than  the  Church,  as  the  Catholics  held. 

2.  Sins  are  forgiven  through  the  death  of  Christ,  and 
not  through  the  Virgin  Mary,  as  Catholics  held. 

3.  The  sale  of  indulgences  was  a  fraud  and  a  cheat. 
Zwingli  was  under  Wyttenbach  but  a  few  months,  but 

in  that  short  time  Wyttenbach  left  an  indelible  impression 
upon  him.  These  three  seed-thoughts  slumbered  in  his 
mind  for  about  ten  years,  and  then,  as  we  shall  see,  they 
came  to  harvest  as  he  began  the  Reformation  at  Einsedeln. 
How  wonderful  and  eternally-lasting  is  the  influence  of  a 
Christian  teacher.  All  the  Reformed  and  Presbyterian 
Churches,  now  numbering  about  thirty  millions  of  adher- 
ents, have  come  directly  out  of  this  Reformed  Reformation, 
and  are  the  result  of  these  three  seed-thoughts  of  Wytten- 
bach. Indeed,  all  the  other  Protestant  Churches,  except 
the  Lutheran,  have  indirectly  come  out  of  it.  so  that  Wyt- 
tenbach's  influence  through  Zwingli  is  affecting  more  than 
one  hundred  millions  who  are  living  to-day.  What  an 
inspiration,  this,  to  the  Christian  worker!     It  is  one  of  the 


ZWINGLI  AT  GLARUS  5 

most  remarkable  illustrations  in  all  Church  history. 

We  now  come  to  the  study  of  Zwingli's  conversion.    The 
study  of  a  man's  conversion,  especially  of  a  great  man  like 
Zwingli,   is   a   very   interesting  subject,   and   we  may   well 
pause  to  follow  its  steps  carefully. 
V.     Zwingli 's  First  Charge — Glarus   (1506-1516). 

In  1506  Zwingli  was  called  as  priest  by  the  congregation 
at  Glarus,  situated  about  fifty  miles  southeast  of  Zurich. 
He  remained  there  for  ten  years.  The  church  in  which  he 
preached  was  burned  down  by  a  conflagration  in  1861,  which 
destroyed  most  of  the  town.  And  the  new  church  is  a 
simultaneous  church, — that  is,  one  in  which  both  Catholics 
and  Reformed  worship,  though  at  different  hours.  The 
communion  cup  used  by  Zwingli  is  still  there. 

The  most  interesting  question  about  this  period  is 
whether  there  are  any  signs  of  his  becoming  a  Reformer. 
It  is  very  evident  that  as  yet  he  was  only  a  humanist;  and 
yet  in  his  case,  as  in  that  of  a  number  of  others,  humanism 
was  the  bridge  over  which  he  passed  to  Protestantism.  He 
revealed  his  love  of  humanism  during  this  period  in  sev- 
eral ways: 

1.  He  began  the  study  of  the  Greek  language  about 
1513.  The  Latin  language  was  the  sacred  language  to  the 
Catholics,  so  the  study  of  the  Greek  prepared  him  to  become 
a  Reformer  when  he  later  gained  possession  of  the  Greek 
New  Testament. 

2.  He  started  a  school  which  was  attended  by  young 
men  of  the  best  families  and  in  which  he  taught  the  new 
humanistic  methods  of  education.  Some  of  his  students, 
who  afterward  became  prominent,  as  Tschudi,  bore  witness 
to  his  wonderful  power  as  a  teacher. 

3.  He  came  into  correspondence  with  Erasmus,  the 
leader  of  the  humanists. 

But  the  Protestant  was  beginning  to  appear  in  the 
midst  of  the  humanist,  though  still  faintly.  There  are 
several  signs  that  prophesied  the  coming  Reformer.  These 
were : 


6  FAMOUS   REFORMERS 

1.  A  linguistic  preparation  (the  knowledge  of  the 
Greek),  which  prepared  him  to  later  read  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  thus  see  the  difference  between  it  and  the  Romish 
Church. 

2.  A  political  preparation.  He  paid  three  visits  to 
Italy  as  chaplain  to  the  Swiss  troops  hired  by  foreign 
powers.  These  visits  to  Italy  opened  his  eyes  to  the  great 
wickedness  of  the  papacy,  for  the  proverb  then  was  "the 
nearer  Rome,  the  worse  Christian." 

3.  A  liturgical  preparation.  While  in  Italy,  he  found 
at  Milan  that  the  old  liturgy  of  Ambrose,  the  early  Church 
Father,  differed  from  the  Romish  liturgy  of  his  day.  A 
second  discovery  that  he  made  was  at  Mollis,  a  village  just 
north  of  Glarus,  of  a  liturgy  of  two  hundred  years  before 
his  time,  which  said  that  at  communion  the  cup  was  given 
to  the  laity,  whereas  the  Catholics  in  his  day  gave  only 
the  bread  to  them. 

4.  A  doctrinal  preparation.  He  began  to  doubt  the 
doctrine  of  the  intercession  of  the  saints,  one  of  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  Romanism.* 

VI.     His  Second  Charge  at  Einsedeln  (1516-1518). 

In  1516  he  left  Glarus  for  Einsedeln.  The  cause  of 
his  departure  was  the  opposition  of  a  minority  in  his 
congregation  because  he  was  so  outspoken  against  the 
foreign  military  service  of  the  Swiss.  We  thus  see  that 
he  was  a  political  reformer  even  before  he  became  a  re- 
ligious one.  Einsedeln  was  a  very  different  field  from 
Glarus.  It  was  a  pilgrimage-place  in  an  upper  valley  four 
thousand  feet  above  sea-level,  and  about  twenty-five  miles 
northeast  of  Zurich.  Here  Zwingli  was  not  priest,  as  there 
was  no  parish.  But  he  was  preacher  for  the  pilgrims  who 
came  from  Switzerland  and  southern  Germany.  The  name 
Einsedeln  means  hermit,  and  hither  Meinrad.  the  hermit, 
had  come  in  the  ninth  century  and  founded  a  monastery. 

*Egli,  Schweizerische  Reformations-Geschichte,  page 
35. 


ZWINGLI  AT  EINSEDELN  7 

It  had  in  it  one  of  the  most  sacred  of  the  Romish  relics, 
the  image  of  the  Black  Virgin,  which  was  believed  to  have 
power  to  forgive  sins.  There  was  a  providence  in  his  ap- 
pointment to  this  place,  for,  as  he  had  no  pastoral  duties, 
it  gave  him  ample  time  for  study.  Like  Paul  in  Arabia, 
and  Luther  at  the  Wartburg,  he  was  set  aside  in  quietness 
so  as  to  be  prepared  for  his  great  work  as  Reformer.  It  was 
here  that  he  began  preaching  the  Gospel  of  Protestantism, 
for  he  said,  "I  began  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ  in 
1516,  before  any  one  in  my  locality  had  as  much  as  heard 
of  Luther." 

The  event  that  made  Zwingli  do  this  was  the  publica- 
tion of  a  book.  Oh,  how  great  is  the  power  of  a  book, 
especially  when  that  book  is  the  Bible.  In  1516  Erasmus 
published  the  Greek  New  Testament.  As  Zwingli  read  it, 
a  flood  of  light  burst  on  his  mind,  as  he  saw  how  different 
the  Romish  Church  was  from  the  New  Testament.  He 
copied  in  his  own  handwriting  all  the  Epistles  of  Paul  in 
Greek,*  and  committed  whole  Epistles  to  memory.  This 
later  proved  of  great  value  to  him  in  his  disputations  with 
the  Catholics.  In  thus  committing  Scripture,  he  is  an 
example  to  be  imitated  by  Christians  to-day. 

And  now  the  seed-thoughts  planted  in  his  mind  by 
Wyttenbach  sprang  forth  to  harvest,  and  he  began  the 
Reformation.  His  progress  seems  to  have  been  gradual, 
but  at  that  time  he  seems  to  have  been  farther  advanced 
than  Luther  when  the  latter  nailed  the  theses  on  the 
church  door  at  Wittenberg,  October  31,  1517.  For  he  was 
already  emphasizing  the  central  doctrine  of  Protestantism, 
that  sins  were  forgiven  through  the  ransom  of  Christ.** 
Zwingli  had  gone  deeper  than  Luther,  for  he  believed  in 
the  ransom  of  Christ,  which  is  the  root  and  basis  of  justi- 
fication.    He  was,  too,  a  hero  of  great  moral  courage   in 

*  The  manuscript  of  this  is  in  the  Zwingli  museum 
at  Zurich. 

**  Bullinger,    History    of    the    Reformation,    page    9. 


8  FAMOUS    REFORMERS 

preaching  this  doctrine,  for  over  the  door  of  his  abbey 
were  the  words,  "Here  sins  are  forgiven  by  the  Virgin 
Mary,"  and  within  was  the  Black  Virgin  worshiped  by 
the  pilgrims.  And  yet  he  boldly  preached  that  sins  were 
forgiven  by  Christ,  not  by  Mary-  His  preaching  was  revo- 
lutionary, for  some  of  the  pilgrims  carried  away  these  new 
doctrines  with  them.  Thus  they  were  scattered  far  and 
wide,  and  he  gained  great  fame  for  his  boldness  and 
eloquence. 

VII.     Zwingli's  First   Year  at   Zurich — 1519. 

Zwingli's  fame  as  a  preacher  became  so  great  that  the 
little  mountain  abbey  could  not  hold  him.  In  the  latter 
part  of  1518  he  was  called  to  be  the  head  priest  at  the 
cathedral  of  Zurich.  He  went  to  Zurich  as  a  missionary 
to  tell  them  the  new  Gospel  he  had  learned  from  the  Word 
of  God  and  to  preach  to  them  about  the  ransom  of  Christ, 
for  they  were  in  the  darkness  of  Romanism.  Zurich  was 
at  that  time  a  walled  city  of  perhaps  10,000  inhabitants, 
the  chief  city  in  northeastern  Switzerland.  Here  on  New 
Year's  Day,  1519,  he  startled  his  congregation  by  an- 
nouncing that  he  would  preach  to  them  on  the  Gospel  of 
Matthew,  verse  by  verse.  In  doing  this  he  was  making 
prominent  one  of  his  cardinal  principles,  namely,  the  su- 
premacy of  Scripture.  But  this  was  a  very  different  kind 
of  preaching  from  that  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed, 
which  consisted  of  saint  stories,  etc.  It  created  great  excite- 
ment, but  many  found  in  it  the  spiritual  food  for  which  they 
had  long  been  yearning.  He  also  showed  his  missionary 
spirit  by  trying  to  convert  the  country  people  as  well  as 
the  city  folk,  for  he  began  preaching  on  Fridays  as  well 
as  on  Sundays,  as  Friday  was  market  day  and  that  brought 
the  people  of  the  canton  to  Zurich.  The  result  was  this 
new  Gospel  was  spread  through  all  the  canton  of  Zurich 
as  well  as  the  city.  Soon  after  he  came  to  Zurich,  Samson 
came  there  selling  indulgences,  but  Zwingli  preached  so 
hard   against  him   that   Samson   left   not   only   Zurich,   but 


ZWINGLI  AT  ZURICH  9 

Switzerland. 

But  the  labors  of  the  young  priest  proved  greater  than 
his  strength.  He,  in  order  to  recuperate,  went  to  a  neigh- 
boring watering  place,  Ragatz-Pfaffers,  about  seventy  miles 
southeast  of  Zurich,  where  in  a  picturesque  narrow  gorge 
were  healing  springs.  Then  the  plague  broke  out  in  Zurich, 
and,  like  a  faithful  pastor,  he  came  back  to  Zurich  to  min- 
ister to  his  flock.  He  soon  fell  a  victim  to  the  plague,  and 
was  so  sick  that  it  was  reported  that  he  was  dead.  But 
God  preserved  him  for  great  purposes.  However,  this  severe 
illness  greatly  deepened  his  religious  experience.  This  is 
shown  by  the  hymn  that  he  composed  during  this  sickness, 
wThich  consisted  of  three  beautiful  short  prayers  in  verse.* 
He  was  now,  both  by  study  and  religious  experience,  pre- 
pared for  the  great  work  that  was  about  to  come  upon  him, 
namely,  the  Reformation  of  the  city  of  Zurich. 

VIII.  The  Beginning  of  the  Reformation  at  Zurich — 
1520-1523. 
Zwingli's  preaching  soon  began  to  exert  great  influence 
in  Zurich.  Already  at  the  beginning  of  1520  he  had  over 
2,000  adherents.  In  1520  the  city  council  ordered  that  all 
preaching  must  be  according  to  the  Word  of  God.  In  1522 
matters  began  to  come  to  a  crisis.  As  a  result  of  Zwingli's 
preaching,  Christopher  Froschouer,  the  great  printer  of 
Zurich,  refused  to  fast  in  Lent.  Zwingli  defended  this  posi- 
tion about  fasts.  The  Bishop  of  Constance,  in  whose  diocese 
Zurich  was,  complained  to  the  councils  of  Zurich  against 
Zwingli.  The  Reformation  was  in  great  danger.  Zwingli 
betook  himself  to  prayer,  and,  lo,  on  April  9  the  great 
council  of  the  city  decided  against  the  bishop.  Then  the 
bishop  had  a  decree  passed  at  the  Swiss  Diet  against 
Zurich.  But  Zurich  went  on,  nevertheless,  in  her  reforms. 
On  July  17  Zwingli  did  what  may  be  called  personal  mis- 
sionary work  for  the  conversion  of  Lambert  of  Avignon. 
Lambert  was  a  Franciscan  monk,   with  whom  Zwingli  de- 

*  See  Jackson's  Life  of  Zwingli,  132-134. 


10  FAMOUS   REFORMERS 

bated  publicly  about  the  intercession  of  the  saints,  and  so 
powerfully  that  Lambert  was  converted  to  Protestantism. 
On  November  11, 1522,  the  Zurich  council  took  an  action  that 
virtually  was  the  beginning  of  a  declaration  of  independence 
from  the  power  of  the  Bishop  of  Constance,  and  so  from  the 
Catholic  Church.  It  was  when  Zwingli  brought  matters 
to  an  issue  by  resigning,  because  certain  of  his  duties 
were  against  his  Protestant  views.  The  council  accepted 
his  resignation,  but,  without  asking  permission  of  the 
bishop,  requested  him  to  continue  to  preach.  It  also  went 
farther  and  forbade  the  foreign  service  of  the  Swiss,  and 
also  refused  to  give  up  to  the  bishop  the  Evangelical  pastors 
at  Zurich. 

It  was  very  evident  that  matters  were  approaching  a 
crisis.  This  crisis  came  in  1523.  On  January  29  there 
was  a  great  disputation  held  at  Zurich.  Zwingli  had,  ten 
days  before,  just  as  Luther  had  done  at  Wittenberg  in 
1517,  nailed  up  67  theses  for  debate.  These  were  much 
more  Protestant  than  Luther's  were,  though  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  Luther's  were  five  years  earlier.  Zwingli 
defended  his  theses  out  of  the  Bible,  and  gained  a  great 
victory,  as  the  council  ordered  that  nothing  be  preached 
but  what  was  founded  on  the  Word  of  God.  A  second  great 
conference  was  held  on  October  26,  1523,  before  a  large 
audience.  A  voice  or  two  were  feebly  lifted  up  to  defend 
Catholicism,  but  Zwingli  and  Leo  Juda  literally  annihilated 
their  opponents  out  of  the  Bible  as  they  discussed  images 
and  the  mass.  As  a  result  of  this  conference,  Zurich  com- 
mitted herself  more  fully  than  ever  to  Protestantism. 

Zwingli,  in  November,  1523,  preached  against  images. 
Thomas  Platter  tells  the  story  that  he  was  at  that  time 
sexton  in  the  Fraumiinster  Church,  Zurich.  One  morning 
when  Zwingli  was  to  preach  in  the  church.  Platter  found 
he  had  no  wood  for  making  a  fire  to  heat  the  church.  II? 
looked  into  the  church  and  saw  no  one  there,  so  he  took  a 
wooden  statue  of  John  from  the  nearest  altar,  and  as  he 
threw  it  into  the  stove  he  said,  "Little  John,  now  stoop, 


ZWINGLI  AT  ZURICH  11 

for  you  must  go  into  the  stove."  When  it  began  to  burn 
it  produced  a  very  ugly  odor,  due  to  the  paint  on  it.  So 
he  closed  the  stove  door.  The  schoolmaster,  Myconius, 
came  in  and  asked,  "Have  you  had  good  wood?"  and  Platter 
thought  that  John  had  done  his  best.  As  the  congregation 
began  to  sing  the  hymn,  two  of  the  priests,  who  had  come  in, 
began  quarreling  about  the  missing  statue,  the  one  calling 
the  other  a  Lutheran  and  charging  him  with  having  stolen 
his  John.  These  facts  never  were  made  public  until  many 
years  later  when  Platter  was  at  Basle.  The  next  year 
(1524)  the  images  were  taken  out  of  the  churches,  and  in 
December  of  that  year  the  monasteries  were   suppressed. 

IX.     The  Completion  of  the  Reformation  at  Zurich — 1525. 

By  the  end  of  1524  the  only  remnant  of  Catholicism 
was  the  mass.  Finally,  in  the  spring  of  1525,  the  Zurich 
council  ordered  that  on  Thursday  of  Passion  Week,  April  13, 
the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  celebrated  in  the  Protestant 
fashion,  by  using  bread  instead  of  wafers,  and  by  giving  the 
cup  to  the  laity  in  addition  to  the  bread.  Thus,  after  six 
years  of  struggle,  from  1519  to  1525,  the  Reformation  was 
victorious.  Zwingli  was  its  leader,  and  he  was  aided  by  Leo 
Juda,  who  had  become  pastor  of  St.  Peter's  Church, 
Zurich,  and  by  Myconius,  the  schoolmaster  of  the  Frau- 
miinster  Church  there. 

On  July  19,  1525,  Zwingli  began  a  new  kind  of  service 
in  the  chapel  of  th  cathedral,  which  was  called  a  "prophesy- 
ing." It  was  a  sort  of  conference  and  prayer-meeting,  the 
forerunner  of  modern  prayer-meetings.  In  this  he  was 
later  followed  by  Haller  at  Bern,  Calvin  at  Geneva,  and 
Lasco  in  London.  Zwingli  also,  in  1525  wrote  his  most 
important  work,  "A  Commentary  on  True  and  False  Re- 
ligion." It  was  a  brief  system  of  theology  describing  the 
different  Protestant  doctrines  and  refuting  Catholicism. 
But  -all  this  victory  was  gained  only  after  great  effort  and 
also  great  clanger  to  Zwingli,  for  his  life  was  often 
threatened. 


12  FAMOUS    REFORMERS 

The  life  of  Zwingli,  after  he  had  by  his  missionary  zeal 
evangelized  Zurich,  divided  itself  into  two  parts, — his  rela- 
tion to  Luther  and  his  relation  to  the  other  Swiss  cantons, 
who  by  his  leadership  were  led  out  of  Catholicism  to  the 
light  of  the  Gospel.  We  will  now  take  up  his  relations  to 
Luther. 

X.  Luther's  Youth  and  Education. 

Martin  Luther  was  born  at  Eisleben,  November  10, 
1483,  but  his  father  soon  moved  to  Mansfield,  where  Martin 
went  to  school.  He  later  was  educated  at  Magdeburg  and 
then  at  Eisenach.  There,  as  a  boy,  he  was  accustomed  to 
sing  carols  in  the  streets  and  thus  gain  money  for  his  edu- 
cation. His  fine  voice  attracted  the  notice  of  Ursula  Cotta, 
who  belonged  to  one  of  the  leading  families  at  Eisenach,  and 
she  welcomed  him  to  her  table.  At  Eisenach  he  also 
had  as  his  teacher  Trebonius,  who  would  always  on  enter- 
ing the  school,  take  off  his  cap  to  the  boys,  because  he 
said  he  did  not  know  but  some  of  them  might  become 
famous, — a  prophecy  afterwards  fulfilled  in  Luther.  Luther 
went  (1501)  to  the  university  of  Erfurt.  He  was  a  serious- 
minded  youth,  and  later  had  for  his  motto:  "To  pray  well 
is  half  the  study." 

In  1505  he  entered  the  Augustinian  monastery  at  Erfurt. 
He  was  brought  to  this  decision  when  caught  in  a  terrible 
thunder  storm.  Then,  at  a  fearful  flash  of  lightning,  he 
threw  himself  to  the  earth  and  made  a  vow  that  he  would 
become  a  monk.  Two  years  later  he  was  ordained  to  the 
priesthood.  In  1508  he  was  made  professor  of  theology  at 
the  university  of  Wittenberg.  Two  years  later  he  was 
sent  to  Rome  on  business  of  his  Order.  When  he  came  in 
sight  of  that  city,  so  sacred  to  all  Catholics,  he  threw  him- 
self on  the  ground  and  exclaimed,  "Hail  to  thee,  holy 
Rome."  There  he  climbed  the  "Sacred  Stairs"  of  Pilate's 
Judgment  Hall,  and  when  doing  so  the  words  "the  just  shall 
live  by  faith"  came  to  him. 

XI.  Luther's  Conversion. 

The  conversion   of  Luther,   like   that  of  Zwingli,   is  a 


LUTHER'S  THESES  13 

profoundly  interesting  subject.  Formerly  Luther's  conver- 
sion was  described  as  sudden  and  emotional.  Later  biog- 
raphers make  it  more  gradual.  In  the  early  days  of  his 
manhood  he  was  very  zealous  in  his  fastings  and  self- 
mortification,  hoping  thereby  to  save  his  soul.  But  he  was 
disappointed  in  them,  for  they  gave  him  no  peace.  Then 
the  kind  advice  of  Staupitz,  the  vicar-general  of  his  order, 
and  the  reading  of  the  mystic  theology  of  Tauler  gave  him 
some  light.  He  was  especially  prepared  for  his  conversion 
by  a  growing  study  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  works  of  Augus- 
tine, the  early  Church  Father.  The  text  "The  just  shall 
live  by  faith"  led  him  to  rely  more  on  faith  than  on  works 
for  salvation.  In  his  lectures  on  the  Psalms  (1513-15)  and 
on  Romans  and  Galatians  (1515-17)  he  used  the  works  of 
Lefevre,  the  Reformed  Reformer  of  France,  who,  before 
either  Luther  or  Zwingli,  taught  in  1512  the  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith.  Erasmus'  New  Testament  of  1516 
greatly  influenced  him,  as  it  did  Zwingli.  He  now  inclined 
to  the  Bible  rather  than  to  the  theology  of  Catholicism 
founded  on  Aristotelianism.  In  1517  he  seems  to  have  held 
to  salvation  by  faith  and  yet  "could  not  discard  his  doubts 
about  the  certainty  of  salvation  or  his  monkish  aversion 
that  it  was  against  true  humility  to  thus  count  on  God's 
mercy." 

Then  occurred  the  event  that  produced  the  crisis. 
Tetzel,  the  Dominican  monk,  came  to  Germany  to  sell  in- 
dulgences. An  indulgence  was  a  papal  pardon  that  insured 
one  of  freedom  from  punishment  without  any  repentance, 
provided  money  were  paid.  Luther  protested  against  this 
by  nailing  up  95  theses  on  the  church  door  of  the  Castle 
Church  at  Wittenberg,  October  31,  1517. 

"That,"  says  one  of  Luther's  biographers,  "was  the 
birthday  of  the  Reformation."  Hardly;  for  these  theses 
were  not  at  all  Protestant.  Another  of  his  biographers, 
Koestlin,  speaks  of  them  as  "the  germ  of  the  Reformation." 
That  is  truer.  There  is  nothing  said  in  them  about  justi- 
fication by  faith.     Luther,  in  them,  believes  in  Catholic  in- 


14  FAMOUS    REFORMERS 

diligences,   for   he   says   there,   "Cursed    is   he   who   speaks 
against  the  truth  of  apostolical  pardons." 

1.  What  he  condemns  are  not  indulgences,  but  their 
abuse.  For  the  whole  business  of  indulgences  had  become  a 
great  commercial  monopoly  by  which  the  rich  banking 
house  of  Fuggers  at  Augsburg  and  the  Archbishop  of 
Mayence  made  high  commissions."  As  we  would  say  now, 
"The  trusts  had  gotten  hold  of  the  business." 

2.  Luther  also  protested  in  these  theses  against  the 
papal  indulgences,  over  against  those  given  by  the  bishops 
and  clergy,  which  he  still  endorsed. 

3.  That  he  was  not  yet  a  Protestant  he  himself  later 
says,  for  he  called  himself  at  this  time  "a  most  insane 
papist,"  and  said  that  he  would  have  killed  any  one  who 
denied  obedience  to  the  pope.  He  says  (1520):  "Some  two 
years  ago  I  wrote  a  little  book  on  indulgences,  which  I 
now  deeply  regret  having  published,  for  at  that  time  I  held 
that  indulgences  should  not  be  altogether  rejected,  seeing 
that  they  were  approved  by  the  common  consent  of  men." 
That  book,  published  a  year  later  than  his  theses  on  in- 
dulgences, showed  he  still  believed  in  them. 

Now,  if  Luther  had  believed  in  salvation  by  faith,  as 
Protestants  do,  he  never  would  have  there  endorsed  the 
Catholic  view  of  indulgences,  which  has  its  basis  in  justi- 
fication by  works;  for  part  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  in- 
dulgence was  the  idea  that  the  deeds  or  the  money,  pre- 
scribed by  the  priest  in  the  indulgence,  were  of  value  to 
save.  And  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  his  belief  in  salvation 
by  faith  instead  of  by  works  was  growing.  How  shall  we 
harmonize  it  with  his  view  of  indulgences?  Perhaps  the 
explanation  is  that  Luther  was  then  like  the  great  Church 
Father  whom  his  Order  revered,  Augustine.  Augustine 
held  to  the  two  opposing  theories  of  Evangelicalism  and 
SacramentarianJsm.  According  to  the  former  he  held  that 
men  were  saved  by  grace, — that  is,  by  the  election  of  God — 
God's-  act;  according  to  the  latter  he  held  to  regeneration 
by  baptism, — that  is,  men  were  saved  by  man's  act — the  act 


LUTHER'S  REFORMATION  15 

of  the  priest.  Like  him,  Luther  seems  here  to  have  held 
to  salvation  by  faith  and  also  by  works,  as  the  Catholic 
Church  later  did  at  the  Council  of  Trent.  But,  as  the  result 
showed,  the  former  was  growing  more  rapidly  than  the 
latter.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  when  he  nailed  up 
the  theses  he  was  not  yet  a  Protestant.  Even  after  it,  in 
1519,  says  Doumergue,  he  held  to  purgatory,  saint  worship 
and  transubstantiation,  and  did  not  renounce  the  elevation 
of  the  host  until  1543.  Luther's  act  in  nailing  up  the 
"theses"  was  an  epoch-making  event,  but  he  was  not  yet  a 
Protestant.  Zwingli  much  more  quickly  and  fully  re- 
nounced these  Romish  errors. 

XII.     Beginnings  of  Luther's  Reformation. 

But  his  "theses"  struck  a  popular  chord  in  Germany. 
They  were  the  match  that  ignited  the  powder-magazine. 
Large  parts  of  Germany  had  become  hostile  to  papal  in- 
dulgences and  abuses.  In  two  weeks  the  theses  had  spread 
all  over  Germany,  and  in  a  month  all  over  Europe.  The 
next  year  he  went  to  Heidelberg  for  his  Order,  and  there 
in  his  theses  he  comes  out  clearly  on  justification  by  faith. 
In  the  summer  of  1519  he  had  a  disputation  at  Leipsic 
with  Eck,  the  great  Catholic  champion.  Then  he  went  a 
step  farther  and  declared  that  the  papacy  rested  not  on 
divine  authority,  but  was  a  human  institution.  By  the  end 
of  that  year  he  laid  emphasis  on  the  priesthood  of  all 
believers,  over  against  the  priesthood  of  the  Romish  Church. 

But  it  was  in  the  year  1520  that  he  made  the  formal 
declaration  of  his  independence  from  Rome.  In  that  year 
he  published  three  works  which  formulated  his  new  views. 
The  first  was  his  "Appeal  to  the  German  Nobility."  This 
was  a  ringing  trumpet  note  that  woke  up  all  Germany. 
Its  theme  was  the  responsibility  and  duty  of  the  laity  in 
church  matters.  It  urged  the  secular  power  to  take  a  hand 
in  the  regeneration  of  Germany  and  not  leave  it  to  the 
Church.  This  was  followed  by  his  "Babylonish  Captivity," 
in  which  he  attacked  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  sacra- 
ments and  showed  how  they  were  perverted  so  as  to  corrupt 


16  FAMOUS    REFORMERS 

the  Christian  life.  A  third  book  was  his  "Christian  Lib- 
erty," on  the  liberty  the  Christian  enjoys  through  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith.  These  three  treatises  were 
the  chief  reforming  works  of  Luther.  The  first  showed  the 
reformation  of  the  state;  the  second,  of  the  Church,  and  the 
third,  of  the  inner  Christian  life.  When  the  pope  had  pub- 
lished a  bull  against  him,  he  burned  it,  December  10,  1520, 
at  Wittenberg.    This  was  a  most  heroic  act. 

XIII.  Worms  and  Wartburg. 

The  year  1521  was  also  a  fateful  year  for  Luther.  The 
pope  finally,  on  January  3,  1521,  pronounced  the  ban  on 
him.  It  remained  now  to  be  seen  whether  it  could  be  car- 
ried out  in  Germany.  He  was  summoned  to  Worms  in 
April,  1521.  He  was  given  a  safe-conduct,  but  it  was  com- 
monly expected  that  it  would  be  violated  as  had  been  done 
to  Huss  a  century  before.  But  Luther  defied  the  clanger, 
and  declared  he  would  go  to  Worms  "if  there  were  as  many 
devils  as  there  were  tiles  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses."  At 
the  diet  he  was  asked  whether  he  would  recant  what  he 
had  written.  He  refused  to  do  so,  closing  his  address  with 
the  famous  words,  "God  help  me.  Amen."  The  diet  then 
ordered  the  ban  of  the  empire  to  be  placed  upon  him.  To 
save  him  from  this,  he  was  secretly  kidnapped  and  hidden 
in  the  castle  of  the  Wartburg  near  Eisenach.  There  he 
remained  for  about  a  year,  hidden  under  the  name  of  Squire 
George.  He  spent  much  of  his  time  in  translating  the  New 
Testament  into  German,  which  was  published  1522.  While 
he  was  absent  from  Wittenberg,  matters  there  were  getting 
into  confusion.  The  mild  Phillip  Melancthon,  who  had  been 
called  as  his  associate  in  1517,  and  who  was  a  fine  scholar 
and  strong  humanist,  was  unable  to  control  the  erratic 
Carlstadt,  one  of  the  preachers  at  Wittenberg.  So  Luther 
returned  to  Wittenberg  in  March,  1522,  and  restored  order. 

XIV.  Political  Events  Affecting  the  Reformation. 

The  ban  of  the  empire  still  hung  over  Luther.  Rut 
there  is  an  important  providence  to  be  noted  in  connection 


LUTHER'S  CONTROVERSY  WITH  REFORMED       17 

with  the  Reformation.  Whenever  Protestantism  was 
greatly  threatened  by  the  Catholic  powers,  then  the  Turks 
would  threaten  to  invade  Germany;  and  the  Emperor, 
for  the  sake  of  getting  men  and  money  to  carry  on  war, 
instead  of  oppressing  the  Protestant  princes,  would 
have  to  conciliate  them.  Luther  was  also  protected  by  his 
prince,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  who  was  supported  by  a  con- 
stantly increasing  number  of  Protestant  princes.  In  1523 
the  Peasants'  War  broke  out.  This  was  an  economic  upris- 
ing of  the  peasants  against  the  princes  and  the  authorities, 
as  well  as  a  religious  revolt  against  Catholicism.  It  repre- 
sented Protestant  radicalism.  Yet  Luther  took  strong 
grounds  against  it  and  in  favor  of  law  and  order.  It  was 
finally  suppressed  in  1525.  But  Carlstadt's  extremes  at 
Wittenberg  in  1522  and  the  Peasants'  War  had  an  unfortun- 
ate effect  on  Luther.  They  made  him  become  more  con- 
servative. Zwingli  represented  the  progressive  Reforma- 
tion, Luther,  the  conservative.  Luther  now  became  more 
conservative,  both  in  regard  to  doctrine,  worship  and 
church  government.  It  was  in  connection  with  doctrine 
that  he  became  involved  in  a  controversy  with  the  Re- 
formed,  especially   on   the   Lord's   Supper. 

XV.     Luther's   Controversy  with   the  Reformed. 

Luther  in  1526  began  attacking  Zwingli  for  his  doctrine 
of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  difference  between  them  was 
this:  Both  rejected  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  transubstantia- 
tion — that  is,  that  the  bread  and  wine  at  the  Supper  were 
changed  into  the  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  Zwingli 
(especially  at  first)  went  to  the  other  extreme  and  held  to 
the  memorial  view, — that  the  prime  reference  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  on  the  cross,  of  which 
it  was  a  memorial.  This  Luther  attacked.  For  he  held 
that  the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were  present  with  the 
elements.  Luther  attacked  the  Zwinglian  view  because  it 
seemed  to  him  to  have  no  presence  of  Christ  at  the  Supper. 
Zwingli,  on  the  other  hand,  attacked  the  Lutheran  doctrine, 
because  it  required  a  material  presence  of  Christ's  body  with 


18  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

the  elements  of  the  Supper.  In  exegesis  they  differed  as 
to  the  interpretation  of  the  word  "is"  in  the  phrase  "This 
is  my  body."  Zwingli  claimed  that  the  word  was  used 
figuratively,  and  meant  "signifies."  Luther  claimed  that 
the  word  must  be  taken  literally, — that  it  expressed  a  fact 
and  not  a  figure.  Such  was  the  controversy  that  unhappily 
divided  the  Lutherans  and  Reformed  at  a  time  when  they 
most  needed  to  be  united  against  Rome.  Of  the  Conference 
at  Marburg,  where  Luther  and  Zwingli  met  and  debated 
the  Lord's  Supper,  we  will  speak  later.  This  controversy  of 
Luther  with  Zwingli  and  the  Reformed  continued  up  to  the 
time  of  the  latter's  death  and  later. 

XVI.     Luther's  Later  Years. 

After  the  Peasants'  War  the  Catholic  powers  of  Ger- 
many still  tried  to  suppress  the  Protestants.  At  the  diet 
of  Spires,  in  1529,  they  decided  to  take  violent  measures 
against  the  Protestants.  This  led  to  the  delivery  of  a 
protest  to  the  Emperor,  signed  by  five  princes  and  fourteen 
free  cities  of  the  empire.  Because  of  this  act  we  are  to-day 
called  "Protestants."  In  1530  the  next  diet  was  held  at 
Augsburg.  Luther  dared  not  go  to  it,  as  he  was  under  the 
ban  of  the  empire,  but  stayed  at  Coburg.  Melancthon  at- 
tended it,  and  laid  before  the  Emperor  the  Lutheran  creed, 
the  Augsburg  Confession.  Luther  then  returned  to  Witten- 
berg, where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  in  teaching  in  the 
university.  He  also  labored  to  introduce  Protestantism  into 
new  districts  and  to  organize  the  Churches.  He  died  on 
February  18,  1546. 

Luther's  life  was  the  most  dramatic  of  the  four  great 
Reformers.  He  stands  out  as  a  great  heroic  figure.  His 
great  work  was  as  the  founder  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
which  in  the  Reformation  spread  from  Germany  into  Scan- 
dinavian lands.  Next  to  that  was  his  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  German,  which  was  published  in  1534. 


QUESTIONS  19 

QUESTIONS 

ZWINGLI 

What  is  the  relation  of  the  Reformation  to  Missions? 

What  events  and  what  persons  prepared  the  way  for 
the  Reformation? 

When  and  where  was  Zwingli  born? 

Describe   his  education? 

Describe  Wyttenbach's  influence  over  him? 

Where  was  his  first  charge? 

What  signs  of  the  coming  Reformer  appeared  at 
Glarus? 

What  did  Zwingli  do  at  Einsedeln? 

What  beginnings  of  the  Reformation  were  there  at 
Einsedeln? 

Describe  his  first  preaching  at  Zurich? 

Describe  the  various  steps  of  the  Reformation  at  Zurich 

What  completed  the  Reformation  at  Zurich? 

LUTHER 

When  and  where  was  Luther  born? 

Describe  his  education. 

Describe  his  visit  to  Rome. 

What  influences  prepared  him  to  become  a  Reformer? 

What  were  indulgences,  and  how  did  he  attack  them? 

What  two  opposing  views  were  struggling  in  Luther  for 
the  mastery? 

What  effect  on  Germany  had  his  theses? 

What  three  works  did  he  publish  in  1520? 

What  was  the  pope's  bull,  and  what  did  Luther  do 
with  it? 

Describe  his  attendance  at  the  diet  of  Worms. 

What  did  he  do  while  at  the  Wartburg? 

Why  did  he  return  to  Wittenberg? 

What  was  the  difference  between  Zwingli  and  Luther 
on  the  Lord's  Supper? 


20  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

How  long  did  the  controversy  continue? 

Why  are  we  called  Protestants? 

What  occurred  at  the  diet  of  Augsburg? 

When  did  Luther  die? 

What  was  Luther's  character  and  work? 


CHAPTER  II 
Zwingu  and  His  Fellow-Reformers 

I.     The  Spread  of  the  Reformed  Doctrine. 

The  Reformed  Church  having  been  established  at 
Zurich  by  1525,  entered  on  its  next  stage,  namely,  its 
spread  to  the  other  cantons.  Here  Zwingli  appears  as  a 
true  home  missionary,  as  were  indeed  all  the  Reformers. 
The  Reformation  was  a  great  missionary  age.  Every- 
where and  in  all  directions  we  see  them  striving  to  lead 
men  to  Christ.  Zwingli  did  this  to  the  other  cantons  in 
Switzerland,  and  even  to  regions  beyond,  as  Germany. 
His  zeal  should  be  an  inspiration  for  home  missions  to-day. 
Wherever  he  heard  the  Gospel  was  being  favorably  re- 
ceived, or  that  there  was  an  opening  for  it,  there  he 
hastened  to  write  a  letter  or  to  go  himself.  Thus  in  1524, 
when  he  heard  that  the  Toggenburg,  the  district  where 
he  was  born,  accepted  the  Gospel,  he  wrote  to  its  council 
a  letter  congratulating  them  on  it.  In  1525  he  wrote  to 
the  canton  of  the  Grisons  urging  them  to  aid  the  spread  of 
Protestantism  and  also  help  Zurich. 


II.     The  Conference  at  Baden. 

The  first  step  that  prepared  for  the  reception  of  the 
Gospel  elsewhere  was  the  Conference  at  Baden,  May  21, 
1526,  in  which  the  Catholics  planned  to  crush  the  Refor- 
mation at  Zurich.  Baden  was  not  in  the  canton  of  Zurich, 
but  was  close  enough  to  have  great  influence  there,  being 
about  fifteen  miles  west  of  Zurich.  Zwingli  did  not  attend 
the  Conference.  As  Baden  was  a  very  bigoted  Catholic 
city,  the  city  council  of  Zurich  forbade  his  attendance,  as  he 
probably  would  have  suffered  violence.     He,  however,  spent 

21 


22  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

more  time  in  outlining  arguments  for  the  speakers  there 
than  if  he  had  been  debating  there.  For  messengers  brought 
Zwingli  the  report  of  the  Conference  each  evening.  To 
these  he  replied  during  the  night  and  his  replies  were  sent 
to  Baden  by  morning. 

One  of  these  messengers  was  Thomas  Platter,  who  thus 
tells  the  story.  It  was  arranged  that  a  young  man  in  the 
Conference  should  each  day  write  down  what  was  said, 
and  that  either  Platter  or  another  young  man  would  carry 
it  from  Baden  to  Zwingli.  When  they  were  asked  at  the 
city  gate  of  Baden  what  their  business  was,  they  replied 
that  they  brought  chickens  to  Baden  to  sell,  which  was 
true.  This  interchange  of  messages  continued  until  the 
last  day  of  the  disputation,  when  Platter  carried  the  report 
to  Zurich.  But  he  started  late  and  so  came  to  Zwingli's 
house  very  late.  He  had  to  knock  a  long  while  before 
Zwingli's  servant  opened,  who  said,  "Why  so  late?  Can 
you  not  let  Master  Ulrich  rest  for  one  night?  For  six 
weeks  he  has  not  been  in  bed  because  of  the  disputation." 
Being  admitted,  Platter  knocked  a  long  while  at  Zwingli's 
door,  until  Zwingli  woke  up  and  received  him,  when  he 
told  him  what  had  been  done  at  Baden.  In  an  hour  or  so, 
Zwingli's  reply  was  on  the  way  to  Baden,  taken  by  the 
other  young  man,  as  Platter  was  too  tired  to  return.  When 
this  messenger  came  to  the  gate  of  Baden,  it  was  yet  dark. 
The  gate  was  locked.  He  found  a  wagon  of  hay  standing 
at  the  gate  waiting  for  it  to  be  opened.  He  climbed  up  in 
the  hay-wagon  and  fell  asleep.  When  he  woke  up,  he  found 
that  the  wagon  had  gone  in  through  the  gate,  and  had 
brought  him  to  the  market-place  at  Baden,  right  in  front 
of  the  house  where  he  was  to  deliver  Zwingli's  reply  to 
Ecolampadius. 

Although  Zwingli  was  not  at  the  Conference,  yet  for- 
tunately the  Reformed  found  a  new  champion  in  Ecolam- 
padius, the  Reformer  at  Basle.  The  champion  of  the  Catho- 
lics was  Eck,  who  came  there  from  his  victory  over  Luther 
at  Leipsic,  as  he  claimed.   We  shall  later  in  connection  with 


BERN  AND   MARBURG   CONFERENCES  23 

the  life  of  Ecolampadius  describe  this  Conference.  The 
Catholics  claimed  a  victory  there,  but  the  facts  are  against 
it,  for  the  Conference  undoubtedly  spread  the  Reformation, 
especially  in  the  cantons  of  Bern  and  Basle. 

III.  The  Conference  at  Bern. 

The  next  great  event  was  the  Conference  at  Bern, 
January  6,  1528.  This  was  a  great  missionary  effort  on  the 
part  of  Zwingli  and  others  to  bring  that  largest  of  the  Swiss 
cantons  into  the  Reformed  Church.  Zwingli  attended  it  as 
did  the  leading  Reformers  from  other  Protestant  cantons. 
We  shall  not  describe  this  Conference  here,  as  it  will  come 
up  again  in  the  life  of  Haller,  the  Reformer  at  Bern.  As  we 
shall  there  see,  Zwingli  was  easily  the  leader  in  th^e  Confer- 
ence and  exerted  a  great  influence.  This  Conference  proved  to 
be  a  great  victory  for  the  Reformed,  because  by  it  they 
gained  the  large  canton  of  Bern.  And  it  also  opened  up  the 
way,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  life  of  Farel,  for  the  spread  of 
Protestantism  to  the  French  cantons  of  southwestern 
Switzerland. 

IV.  The  Conference  at  Mar  our  g. 

The  next  great  event  was  the  Conference  at  Marburg 
in  1529.  Wie  also  see  in  this  the  missionary  enterprise  of 
Zwingli  and  the  other  Reformers.  The  doctrines  of  Zwingli 
had  been  spread  over  German  Switzerland.  Zwingli  hoped 
they  would  now  find  on  entrance  into  Germany,  for  the 
Conference  of  Marburg  was  the  prophecy  of  the  permanent 
founding  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Germany,  later  at 
Heidelberg. 

Landgrave  Phillip  of  Hesse,  one  of  the  leading  princes 
of  Germany,  was  anxious  to  bring  the  Lutherans  and  the 
Reformed  together.  In  order  to  do  this,  he  arranged  that 
a  Conference  should  be  held  at  Marburg  in  western  Ger- 
many. Zwingli,  fearing  that  the  council  of  Zurich  would 
not  permit  him  to  go  on  account  of  the  danger,  secretly 
left  Zurich  on  September  3,  1529.  He  traveled  by  way  of 
Basle.     From  Basle  he  went  down  the  Rhine  by  boat  to 


24  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

Strassburg.  Then  under  an  armed  guard,  he  went  to  the 
border  of  Hesse  on  the  Rhine,  crossing  it  at  St.  Goar,  or 
Rheinfels.  He  arrived  in  Marburg  on  September  27th, 
accompanied  by  other  Reformed  Reformers,  as  Ecolam- 
padius  of  Basle,  and  Bucer  and  Hedio  of  Strassburg.  This 
Conference  was  the  only  time  when  all  the  Reformers  came 
together.  Luther  and  Melancthon  were  there,  together  with 
other  Lutheran  Reformers.  It  looked  as  if  the  two 
Churches,  Lutheran  and  Reformed,  might  be  united. 

On  October  1st,  the  public  debate  took  place  in  the 
great  hall  of  the  castle,  in  the  presence  of  Landgrave  Phillip 
of  Hesse  and  Duke  Ulrich  of  Wurtemberg.  These  princes 
sat  at  one  end  of  the  table,  while  the  leading  Reformers 
sat  or  stood  around  the  table.  There  is  a  tradition  that 
Luther  wrote  on  the  table  in  chalk  the  words,  "This  is  my 
body,"  so  that  he  might  not  weaken  from  his  position  on 
the  Lord's  Supper.  For  two  days  they  debated,  especially 
on  the  Lord's  Supper.  Zwingli  and  Ecolampadius  so  pressed 
Luther  by  the  exegesis  of  the  Scripture  texts  and  quotations 
from  the  Church  Fathers  that  finally  he  could  answer  no 
more,  but  pulling  the  cloth,  on  which  he  had  written  the 
words  "This  is  my  body"  from  the  table,  he  held  it  up 
before  them  as  his  vindication. 

But  a  sickness  broke  out  in  the  crowded  town  and 
broke  up  the  Conference.  Before  they  separated,  the  Land- 
grave had  them  draw  up  fifteen  Articles  of  Faith.  Both 
sides  agreed  on  all  the  Articles  except  on  that  about  the 
Lord's  Supper.  As  it  was  evident  that  they  could  not  reach 
an  entire  agreement,  the  Swiss  asked  that  they  be  recog- 
nized by  Luther  as  brethren.  But  Luther  refused,  saying, 
"You  have  a  different  spirit  from  ours."  Zwingli  held  out 
his  hand  to  Luther  but  was  refused,  and  so  the  Conference 
broke  up  (October  5th),  without  uniting  the  two  Churches. 
But  it  made  a  favorable  impression  for  Zwinglianism  on 
Germany.  Thus  Lambert  of  Avignon,  the  Reformer  of 
Hesse,  declared  he  had  come  to  the  Conference  with  his 
mind  like  a  sheet  of  white  paper,  ready  to  receive  impres- 


ZWINGLI'S    LATER    YEARS  25 

sions.  After  the  Conference  lie  favored  Zwingli,  but  unfor- 
tunately died  soon.  It  also  made  the  Landgrave  so  favorable 
that  he  proposed  to  the  German  princes  an  alliance  with  the 
Swiss,  but  it  was  rejected  by  the  Lutherans.  However,  the 
city  of  Strassburg  entered  into  an  alliance  with  Zurich. 

V.     Zwingli's  Later  Years. 

For  the  diet  of  Augsburg  in  Germany  (1530),  where 
Melancthon  presented  the  first  Lutheran  creed,  the  Augs- 
burg Confession,  to  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  Zwingli  pre- 
pared a  Confession  of  his  own,  wThich  he  sent  to  the  Em- 
peror, who,  however,  paid  no  attention  to  it.  But  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  it  differed  from  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession on  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  like  all 
the  Reformed  creeds,  made  the  Bible  prominent. 

The  last  years  of  Zwingli  were  taken  up  with  political 
alliances  and  with  the  spread  and  conservation  of  Protes- 
tantism. He  had  been  criticized  for  the  former,  but  it  is 
to  be  remembered  that  Zurich  was  at  that  time  peculiarly 
situated  by  being  isolated.  In  1527  she  was  excluded  from 
the  Swiss  diet  by  the  Catholic  contons,  and  only  the  next 
year  did  Bern,  Basle,  Schaffhausen  and  the  other  Protestant 
districts  unite  with  her  to  form  the  Protestant  diet.  In  this 
we  must  not  judge  Zwingli  by  our  day  or  by  our  American 
views  of  the  separation  of  Church  and  State.  Certain  it  is, 
that  had  Zwingli's  views  been  carried  out  and  a  political 
alliance  of  all  Protestants  formed,  the  Protestants  would 
not  have  suffered  such  losses  as  they  did,  especially  in  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  for  Rome  would  have  been  held  in  check. 

But  Zwingli  was  also  very  busy  introducing  and  build- 
ing up  Protestantism  in  the  Catholic  cantons  of  St.  Gall, 
Appenzell  and  Thurgau,  northeast  of  Zurich,  and  of  Schaff- 
hausen to  the  north.  His  letters  reveal  his  activity  there. 
At  the  end  of  1529  he  went  to  Frauenfeld,  the  capital  of 
Thurgau,  and  organized  the  Reformed  congregations  into 
a  synod,  composed  of  about  five  hundred  ministers  from 
the  Rhine  valley.     The  next  year  he  again   went  there  to 


26  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

synod  meeting.     The  result  of  his  influence  and  work  was 
that  all  those  districts  are  now  largely  Potestant. 

VI.     His  Death  at  Cappel. 

The  year  1531  was  the  last  year  of  his  life.  It  brought 
with  it  the  Second  Cappel  War.  The  First  Cappel  War 
broke  out  in  1529,  between  the  canton  of  Zurich  and  the 
five  mountain  cantons  south  of  her:  Lucerne,  Zug,  Schwytz, 
Uri  and  Unterwalden.  These  remained  intensely  Catholic 
and  opposed  the  Protestantism  of  Zurich.  In  this  First 
Cappel  War,  the  two  armies  met  for  battle,  but  just  as  they 
were  about  to  fight,  peace  was  made.  This  peace  has  come 
down  to  us  in  history  as  the  "milk-soup  peace";  because 
when  it  was  made,  the  soldiers  of  the  one  side  brought  milk 
and  of  the  other  side,  bread.  They  threw  the  bread  into  the 
soup  and  both  ate  out  of  the  same  dish,  as  the  symbol  of 
peace.  It  was  in  connection  with  this  war  that  Zwingli 
wrote  his  most  famous  hymn,  <:Guide,  O  Lord  Thy  Chariot 
Now." 

But  the  First  Cappel  War  had  settled  nothing  per- 
manently. So  the  wTar  broke  out  again  in  1531.  The  Protes- 
tant cantons  had  decided  to  lay  an  embargo  upon  the  five 
Catholic  cantons  on  wheat,  and  other  necessary  articles, 
until  these  cantons  would  give  up  foreign  pensions,  etc. 
Bern  especially  urged  this  procedure,  and  then  left  Zurich 
in  the  lurch  to  suffer  from  it.  Suddenly  the  five  Catholic 
cantons  rose  in  war  and  marched  on  October  9,  1531,  against 
Zurich.  Zurich  hurriedly  gathered  her  army  together,  but 
she  was  greatly  unprepared.  Zwingli  bade  good-bye  to  his 
wife  and  family  and  went  out  as  chaplain  with  the  army. 
On  October  11,  1531,  the  two  armies  met  on  the  battlefield 
of  Cappel.  The  8,000  Catholic  troops  soon  defeated  the 
2,700  in  the  Zurich  army,  although  the  latter  fought  bravely. 
Zwingli  was  knocked  down  while  ministering  to  a  soldier. 
Lying  under  a  pear  tree  he  was  dying  of  his  wounds.  The 
Catholic  troops  came  up  and,  finding  him  dying,  asked  him 
if  he  wanted  a  priest.    He  shook  his  head,  saying,  "No."    His 


ZWINGLI'S  DEATH  27 

last  words  were  (and  they  ought  to  be  classic  to  every 
member  of  the  Reformed  faith) :  "They  may  kill  the  body, 
but  they  cannot  kill  the  soul."  When  his  identity  was  dis- 
covered, they  very  quickly  put  him  to  death.  His  body  was 
quartered  and  burnt.  So  died  Ulrich  Zwingli,  as  the  in- 
scription over  the  door  of  his  house  in  Zurich  says  "for 
truth  and  for  his  faith."  The  defeat  of  Cappel  was  a  terrible 
blow  to  Zurich  and  to  Protestantism.  It  would  have  been 
its  death-blow,  but  for  the  fact  that  Protestantism  had  be- 
come so  great  a  movement  that  the  death  of  no  one  man 
could  check  it.  God  fortunately  raised  up  a  man,  in  every 
way  fitted  to  be  Zwingli's  successor,  in  Henry  Bullinger,  of 
whom  we  will  speak  later. 

VII.     Zwingli's  Character  and  Doctrines. 

So  lived,  so  died  the  great  founder  of  the  Reformed 
Churches.  He  was  of  all  the  Reformers  the  most  modern 
in  his  views,  and  as  time  rolls  on,  his  life  and  character 
are  being  better  understood.  He  was  by  no  means  faultless. 
He  made  mistakes, — many  of  them, — though  some  of  them 
were  mistakes  due  to  his  age.  There  were  none  of  the 
Reformers  who  were  faultless  and  who  made  no  mistakes. 
However,  in  spite  of  them,  and  rising  above  them,  Zwingli 
appears  as  a  great  character  and  a  mighty  force.  He  was 
one  of  the  four  great  pillars  of  the  Reformation:  Luther, 
Melancthon  and  Calvin  being  the  other  three.  His  greatness 
was  many-sided.  He  was  great  as  a  thinker,*  as  a  theologian, 
as  a  poet,  as  a  patriot,  as  a  statesman,  and  as  an  orator, — 
and  all  these  were  consecrated  in  the  highest  way  to  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation.  His  was  a  great  missionary 
spirit  and  he  did  not  rest  until  most  of  German  Switzerland 
had  become  Protestant. 

His  doctrinal  position  may  be  now  defined  as  a  "liberal 
Calvinism." 

1.  He  strongly  held  to  the  supremacy  of  Scripture. 

2.  He  held  to  the  doctrine  of  election,  as  did  all  the 

*  In  nine  years  he  published  about  eighty  works. 


28  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

Reformers,  even  Luther.  They  emphasized  this  doctrine, 
because  in  their  reaction  against  the  Catholic  doctrine  of 
justification  by  works,  they  held  to  justification  by  faith. 
And  as  man's  works  could  not  save,  then  God  alone  could 
save  and  he  did  it  by  electing  them.  But  Zwingli  was 
broad  and  liberal  in  his  Calvinism.  He  held  that  all 
infants  were  saved,  and  also  that  there  was  a  possibility  of 
salvation  for  some  of  the  heathen,  as  Socrates  and  Seneca; 
for  his  love  for  the  classics  had  liberalized  his  theological 
views.  In  holding  this,  he  gave  the  death-blow  to  the 
doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration.  And  while  strict  Cal- 
vinists  hold  that  Christ  died  for  the  elect,  Zwingli  held 
that  He  died  for  all. 

But  he  did  not  live  long  enough  to  fully  co-ordinate 
these  doctrines  into  a  system,  for  he  died  in  middle  life. 
On  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  he  agreed  with 
Luther,  but  his  emphasis  was  different.  He  emphasized  the 
cause  of  justification,  namely,  the  death  of  Christ,  while 
Luther  emphasized  the  result,  namely,  justification.  He 
says  in  his  Confession  to  Emperor  Charles  V,  "For  this  is 
the  one  sole  mediator  between  God  and  men,  the  God  and 
man  Christ  Jesus."  Luther's  doctrine  was  based  on  Cala- 
tians,  Zwingli's  on  Hebrews  (7:28  and  10:10).  This  em- 
phasis of  Zwingli's  on  the  "Ransom  of  Christ"  led  him  to 
hold  at  first  to  the  memorial  view  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
though  toward  the  end  of  his  life  he  inclined  toward  the 
higher  Calvinistic  view. 

VIII.     The  Life  of  Leo  Judo. 

This  sketch  of  the  life  of  Zwingli  would  not  be  complete 
without  referring  to  his  helper  at  Zurich,  Leo  Juda.  It  was 
at  the  feet  of  Prof.  Thomas  Wyttenbach  at  Basle  that 
Zwingli  and  Leo  Juda,  born  in  southwestern  Germany,  1482, 
first  met.  With  Zwingli  he  drank  in  the  Evangelical  teach- 
ings of  Wyttenbach,  and  in  his  life  he  somewhat  followed 
Zwingli,  going  first  to  Einsedeln  and  then  to  Zurich,  ;is 
pastor  of  St.  Peter's  Church.     In  the  second  Zurich  disputa- 


LEO  JUDA  29 

tion  in  1523,  Juda  appeared  as  Zwingli's  helper  and  debated 
against  the  mass.  He  also  aided  Zwingli  in  his  corres- 
pondence and  his  preaching,  and,  when  Zwingli  was  away 
from  Zurich,  acted  as  the  head  of  the  church.  He  was  a 
fine  scholar,  and  greatly  helped  Zwingli  in  the  publication 
of  the  first  German  Bible  after  the  Reformation.  This  was 
published  at  Zurich  in  1530,  four  years  before  Luther's 
translation  appeared.  In  it,  Zwingli  and  Juda  utilized 
Luther's  translation  as  far  as  he  had  gone,  but  added  other 
translations  of  their  own,  as  of  the  Prophets. 

When  the  Protestants  were  defeated  at  Cappel  in  1531, 
his  life  was  in  great  danger,  because  of  the  reaction  that 
took  place  at  Zurich  against  the  Protestants.  As  he  stood 
next  to  Zwingli  in  the  Church,  he  was  held  somewhat  re- 
sponsible for  the  defeat.  A  colonel  came  to  town  for  the 
express  purpose  of  killing  him,  and  was  only  prevented  by 
Juda's  friends  so  crowding  around  the  man  that  he  could 
not  do  it.  The  danger  was  so  great  that  Leo  Juda  did  not 
dare  go  out  of  his  house.  One  night  some  of  the  women 
came  and  begged  him  to  leave  the  house  disguised  as  a 
woman.  But  he  refused,  and,  buckling  on  his  armor,  walked 
through  the  main  street  to  the  house  of  a  friend  where 
the  Protestants  protected  him.  He  stayed  there  until  the 
storm  was  over.  He  was  called  to  be  Zwingli's  successor, 
but  declined.  When  Bullinger  was  called  to  that  position, 
Juda  wras  ever  his  right-hand  man. 

His  greatest  work  for  the  Zurich  Church  was  his  pre- 
paration of  two  catechisms,  that  the  children  might  be 
instructed  in  the  faith, — a  larger  catechism  in  1534,  and  a 
shorter  one  in  1541.  In  the  first  of  these  the  catechumen 
asks  the  question  and  the  minister  gives  the  answer.  But 
this  was  reversed  in  all  later  Reformed  catechisms.  They 
were  widely  introduced  into  other  cantons,  and  even  into 
other  lands,  and  other  catechisms  as  Calvin's  were  based 
on  them.  He  died  June  19,  1542,  greatly  honored.  Time 
fails  to  speak  of  Zwingli's  other  helpers  at  Zurich,  as 
Myconius,    the    schoolmaster,    Pellican,    the    professor    of 


30  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

Hebrew,  and  also  Christopher  Froschouer,  who  published 
Zwingli's  works,  and  who  published  so  many  Bibles  that  he 
was  a  whole  Bible  Society  in  himself.  His  missionary  work 
in  the  sale  and  spread  of  his  Bibles  was  very  remarkable. 
We  must  also  not  forget  to  call  attention  to  Bibliander,  the 
successor  of  Zwingli,  and  the  learned  professor  of  Hebrew 
at  Zurich,  who  urged  missions  to  the  Mohammedans  and 
Jews  (1546  and  1553)  in  his  works  and  who  for  a  time 
wanted  to  go  as  a  missionary  to  the  Mohammedans. 

IX.  The  Name  of  Ecolampadius. 

John  Ecolampadius  (or  (Ecolampadius,  as  the  Germans 
have  it)  has  never  received  his  due  at  the  hands  of  church 
historians.  Perhaps  his  great  modesty  had  something  to 
do  with  it;  but  he  was  as  great  as  he  was  modest.  His 
name  was  in  the  German  "Hausschein,"  which  he,  after  the 
custom  of  his  time,  latinized  into  Ecolampadius.  The 
word  means  "the  light  of  the  house,"  and  Ecolampadius  was 
a  great  light  in  God's  House.  Though  in  his  modesty  he 
was  often  in  his  own  eyes  only  a  rush-light,  yet  he  was 
a  "burning  and  shining  light,"  as  was  John  the  Baptist. 

X.  His  Birth  and  Conversion. 

He  was  born  at  Weinsberg  in  southern  Germany  in 
1482.  He  studied  theology  at  the  Universities  of  Heidel- 
berg and  Tubingen.  As  priest  he  came  to  Basle  in  1515 
just  as  the  great  scholar  and  humanist,  Erasmus  arrived; 
and  there  he  entered  the  select  circle  of  the  learned,  led  by 
Erasmus.  He  was  so  fine  a  scholar  in  Hebrew  that  Eras- 
mus utilized  him  a  great  deal  to  help  him.  Indeed,  Erasmus 
declared  that  he  was  the  best  Hebrew  scholar  of  his  day, 
next  to  Reuchlin.  Erasmus,  though  he  bitterly  attacked 
the  abuses  of  the  Catholic  church,  yet  never  became  a  Pro- 
testant. He  was  too  timid.  But  what  Erasmus  did  not  do, 
as  we  shall  later  see,  Ecolampadius  did, — he  began  the 
Reformation.  The  old  proverb  was  that  "Erasmus  laid  the 
egg  of  the  Reformation,  but  Luther  hatched  it."  As  far  as 
Basle  was  concerned,  Ecolampadius,  and  not  Luther  hatched 


ECOLAMPADIUS  31 

it.  When  he  first  arrived  at  Basle  he  was  not  yet  a  Re- 
former, though  his  great  seriousness  was  fertile  ground 
for  it.  In  1516  he  returned  to  his  home,  but  in  1518  he  is 
again  at  Basle  at  the  earnest  request  of  Erasmus,  so  as  to 
aid  him  in  the  publication  of  the  second  edition  of  the 
New  Testament.  Then  for  a  short  time  he  was  pastor  at 
Augsburg  in  Germany.  When  Luther's  theses  were  scat- 
tered over  Germany,  he  was  greatly  influenced  by  them. 
Then  to  the  surprise  of  his  friends,  he  suddenly  entered 
the  cloister  near  Augsburg  in  1520.  But  he  soon  became 
disgusted  with  the  life  of  the  monks  and  left  the  cloister, 
saying,  "I  have  put  off  the  monk,  and  have  found  Christ." 
Where  to  go,  he  knew  not.  He  was  then  called  in  1522  as 
pastor  at  Ebernberg,  by  Count  Francis  of  Sickingen, 
who  inclined  to  the  Reformation.  But  when  that  prince 
lost  his  principality,  Ecolampadius  had  to  leave. 

XI.  The  Beginnings  of  the  Reformation  at  Basle. 

At  the  end  of  1522  he  is  again  at  Basle,  where  he  be- 
came vicar  of  St.  Martin's  Church.  But  now,  instead  of 
Erasmus  having  the  greatest  influence  over  him,  it  is 
Zwingli,  whose  reformatory  movements  at  Zurich  had  by 
this  time  attracted  attention.  His  learning  soon  led  to 
his  becoming  a  lecturer  in  the  university,  in  which  he  began 
to  reveal  his  Evangelical  leanings.  In  1525  he  was  advanced 
so  as  to  be  head-priest  at  St.  Martin's  Church  at  Basle, 
which  gave  him  great  influence  and  greater  freedom  to 
preach  the  Gospel.  There  came  a  reaction  against  Pro- 
testantism in  1525,  so  that  even  some  of  his  friends  urged 
him  to  leave.  But  he  kept  on  quietly  but  firmly  introducing 
the  Reformation;  and  in  November,  1525,  he  introduced  the 
Protestant  Lord's  Supper  in  his  own  church. 

XII.  The  Conference  at  Baden. 

It  was  the  disputation  at  Baden,  May  2,  1526,  that 
brought  Ecolampadius'  ability  into  prominence.  To  that 
disputation  the  Catholics  had  brought  the  most  eloquent 
opponent  of  the  Reformation,  Eck.     He  claimed  to  have  al- 


32  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

ready  crushed  Martin  Luther  at  the  Leipsic  Disputation, 
and  he  expected  to  crush  Protestantism  at  this.  The  cause 
of  Protestantism  was  in  great  peril  unless  some  strong 
leader  should  arise.  Zwingli  was  the  one  who  could  have 
led.  But  this  Conference  at  Baden  was  intended  to  inveigle 
him  there  so  that  the  Catholics  might  imprison,  and  perhaps 
kill  him,  and  so  the  Zurich  Council  forbade  his  going.  For- 
tunately for  the  Protestants,  Ecolampadius  was  there  and 
proved  to  be  the  man  of  the  hour.  He  debated  with  Eck  with 
great  power,  on  the  mass,  on  prayers  to  Mary  and  the  saints, 
and  on  images.  He  produced  a  profound  impression  even  on 
the  Catholics.  He  matched  Eck  in  argument  so  that  some  of 
Eck's  friends  declared  that  "Ecolampadius  is  not  vanquished 
by  argument,  but  by  vociferations,"  and  some  of  the  Catho- 
lics declared:  "If  only  this  pale  man  were  on  our  side." 
His  host,  who  was  a  Catholic,  declared  that  if  he  was  a 
heretic,  he  was  a  very  pious  one,  for  he  said  that  Ecolam- 
padius was  always  engaged  in  study  and  in  prayer. 

XIII.     Progress  of  the  Reformation  at  Basle. 

After  the  Conference  at  Baden,  Ecolampadius  went 
back  to  Basle  to  continue  his  work  of  reforming  that  city. 
He  published  a  Protestant  form  of  worship,  and,  unlike 
Zwingli  at  Zurich,  introduced  congregational  singing.  But 
the  progress  was  slow,  because  the  city  council  always 
tried  to  mediate  between  Catholics  and  Protestants.  When 
a  new  bishop  of  Basle  was  elected  in  1527  and  entered  the 
city  in  great  pomp,  Ecolampadius  wrote  to  Zwingli  "Our 
cause  hangs  on  a  thread."  In  152S  he  attended  the  Con- 
ference of  Bern.  The  fact  that  the  canton  of  Bern  had 
decided  to  become  Reformed  greatly  affected  Basle,  but  still 
the  city  council  tried  to  conciliate.  However,  certain  events 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  On  Good  Friday,  152S,  some 
Protestant  zealots,  without  the  knowledge  of  Ecolampadius, 
went  to  his  Church  of  St.  Martin's,  and  took  away  all  the 
images  from  the  altar.  On  Easter  Monday,  they  did  the 
same  in  the  Church  of  the  August ines.  The  city  council 
put    five    of    them    in    prison,    but    soon    released    them. 


THE  REFORMATION  AT  BASLE  33 

The  controversy,  however,  continued.  The  priests  in  the 
cathedral  inveighed  against  the  Reformers  as  heretics  and 
knaves;  and  the  Protestant  pastors  in  the  other  churches 
preached  against  the  superstitions  in  the  cathedral.  Burgo- 
master Meyer  led  the  Reformed,  Burgomaster  Meltinger  led 
the  Catholics.  On  December  23,  1528,  300  of  the  citizens 
met  in  the  Carpenter  Guild  Hall  and  drew  up  a  petition  to 
the  council  for  Protestantism.  As  they  took  the  petition 
to  the  council  the  Catholics  met  them,  and,  brandishing 
swords  and  lances,  tried  to  bar  their  way.  Nevertheless 
the  Reformed  carried  it  to  the  council.  Meltinger  refused 
to  receive  the  petition,  but  Meyer  received  it  and  brought 
it  before  the  council.  Still  the  council  failed  to  act.  But 
then  there  came  rumors  throughout  the  city  that  Zurich 
and  Bern  were  about  to  send  help  to  the  Reformed,  and 
Austria,  to  the  Catholics.  The  result  was  that  both  parties 
armed,  and  Christmas  night  was  spent  by  both  parties 
under  arms.  This  strained  condition  continued  until  Feb- 
ruary 8,  1529.  By  that  time  it  became  evident  that  the 
Protestants  were  in  control  of  the  situation.  Meltinger 
fled  across  the  Rhine,  as  did  the  other  Catholic  members 
of  the  council.  Then  some  of  the  Protestants  in  passing  the 
cathedral  pulled  out  an  image,  which  broke  into  pieces  as 
it  fell  on  the  payment.  They  then  pulled  out  others.  "I  am 
surprised,"  said  Erasmus  ironically,  "that  the  saints  per- 
form no  miracles  to  save  themselves,  for  formerly  they 
worked  great  prodigies  for  much  smaller  offenses."  The 
Protestants  continued  this  casting  out  of  images  in  the 
other  churches.  On  Ash  Wednesday  of  that  year,  a  number 
of  images  were  burned,  so  that  some  wags  said  "The  idols 
are  really  keeping  their  Ash  Wednesday  to-day."  Then  the 
city  council  gave  orders  that  thereafter  there  should  be  no 
masses  said  in  Basle,- and  that  was  the  end  of  Catholicism 
there.  Ecolampadius,  who  for  years  had  been  faithfully 
preaching  the  Gospel,  was  after  this  victory  transferred  to 
the  cathedral  and  made  head  of  the  church.  During  all 
this  time  Zwingli,   with  true  missionary  zeal,  encouraged 


34  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

Ecolampadius  by  his  correspondence  and  sympathy. 
VIV.     Ecolampadius'  Last  Days. 

When  the  Marburg  Conference  met  in  1529,  he  went 
there  with  Zwingli.  Zwingli  was,  however,  the  leader  of 
the  Reformed  in  that  Conference.  When  the  catastrophe  of 
the  Swiss  Reformation  occurred  in  1531  and  Zwingli  was 
killed  on  the  battlefield  of  Cappel,  Ecolampadius  was  greatly 
grieved  and  worried.  The  Church  at  Zurich  called  him  to 
succeed  Zwingli,  but  he  declined.  He  soon  after  died, 
November  29,  1531,  after  a  brief  illness.  As  the  pastors 
of  the  city  gathered  round  his  dying  bed,  he  asked  of  one 
who  came  in  "What  is  the  news?"  "Nothing,"  was  the  reply. 
"But  I  will  tell  you  something  new,"  was  his  answer.  His 
friends  waited  in  astonishment  and  Ecolampadius  continued 
"In  a  short  time  I  shall  be  with  the  Lord  Jesus."  He  died 
with  the  words  "Lord  Jesus  help  me."  Yes,  "there  was  light 
at  eventide"  with  him  as  his  life  went  out.  He  had  been 
"a  burning  and  shining  light"  for  the  Reformation.  Intel- 
lectually he  stands  in  the  front  rank  of  the  Reformers,  and 
is  the  twin-Reformer  of  Zwingli,  as  Melancthon  was  of 
Luther.  A  man  who  could  write  a  book  which  was  so 
powerful  as  to  make  a  scholar  like  Melancthon  change  his 
view  about  the  Reformed  in  regard  to  doctrine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  is  not  a  tyro;  yet  that  is  what  Ecolampadius  did  in 
his  work  entitled  "The  Dialogue."  In  learning  he  ranks 
with  Zwingli,  for  he  was  one  of  the  most  learned  in  the 
Church  Fathers. 
XV.     Vaclian  and  St.  Gall. 

While  Zwingli  was  busy  at  Zurich,  the  light  of  the  Re- 
formation spread  to  other  cantons  and  cities.  Just  as  the 
Alpine  sun-rise,  as  seen  from  the  Rigi  mountain,  so  beauti- 
fully lights  one  snow-capped  peak  after  another;  so  the 
cities  of  Switzerland  were  lit  one  after  the  other  with  the 
light  of  the  new  day  of  the  Reformation.  The  first  to  accept 
it  was  St.  Gall,  1527,  followed  by  Bern,  1528,  and  Basle, 
1529.  The  Reformer  of  St.  Gall  was  Vadian;  of  Bern,  Hal- 
ler;  and  of  Basle,  Ecolampadius. 


VADIAN'S  EARLY  LIFE  35 

Vadian  was  the  great  Layman  of  the  Swiss  Reforma- 
tion. The  conversion  of  St.  Gall  to  Protestantism  was  one 
of  the  most  notable  victories  of  the  Reformation,  for  St. 
Gall  and  Einsedeln  were  the  two  great  centres  of  Catho- 
licism in  German  Switzerland.  In  the  seventh  century, 
Gallus,  the  British  missionary  who  held  a  purer,  simpler 
worship  than  the  Romish,  had  founded  a  monastery  at  St. 
Gall.  But  by  the  sixteenth  century  this  monastery  had 
become  full  of  Catholic  superstitions.  That  this  great  abbey 
should  become  Protestant  was  one  of  the  surprises  of  the 
Reformation.  Nowhere  in  the  Reformation  were  the  lines 
more  clearly  drawn  than  at  St.  Gall  between  town  and  gown, 
that  is,  between  the  citizens  of  the  town  and  the  robed 
clergy  of  the  abbey.  And  all  this  great  victory  was  due  to 
the  ability  and  influence  of  this  Reformer  of  St.  Gall, 
Joachim  Vadian,  or  Vadianus.  Vadian's  real  name  was 
Von  Watt,  but  according  to  the  custom  of  his  age,  he  latin- 
ized his  name  into  Vadianus.  Like  James  Watt,  who  dis- 
covered steam,  and  by  that  discovery  made  this  a  new 
world;  so  Joachim  Von  Watt  discovered  Protestantism,  and 
by  it  made  St.  Gall  a  new  city. 

XVI.     Vadian's  Birth  and  Education. 

He  was  born  at  St.  Gall,  December  28,  1484,  the  same 
year  as  Zwingli.  In  1502  he  went  to  the  university  of 
Vienna,  where  he  remained  sixteen  years,  first  as  a  student 
and  then  as  professor.  While  at  the  university  two  things 
prepared  him  to  be  a  Reformer.  The  first  was  his  accept- 
ance of  humanism;  the  second  was  his  meeting  with 
Zwingli,  who  was  his  fellow-student  there.  As  they  were 
from  the  same  district  of  Switzerland,  they  became  very 
close  friends.  Vadian  revealed  great  ability,  taking  two 
degrees  at  the  university  in  four  years.  Later,  in  1510,  he 
began  lecturing  in  the  university  with  great  acceptance. 
He  also  began  writing  poems  and  the  Emperor  of  Germany 
was  so  pleased  with  them  that,  in  1514,  he  made  Vadian 
Poet  Laureate.  Two  years  later,  Vadian,  though  only  32 
years  of  age,   was   elevated   to  be   rector,   or   head   of  the 


3G  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

university  of  Vienna.  That  a  small  Swiss  city  should  pro- 
duce the  rector  of  a  great  university  at  such  a  youthful  age 
made  St.  Gall  very  proud  of  him.  And  this  helped  him  to 
gain  so  great  an  influence  there,  that  he  was  later  able  to 
swing  the  city  to  Protestantism. 

Vadian's  natural  love  for  the  sciences  led  him  to  study 
medicine,  and  in  1517  he  took  the  degree  of  doctor  of  medi- 
cine. In  1518  he  left  Vienna  on  account  of  the  plague, 
expecting  to  return;  but  when  he  came  home  to  St.  Gall, 
the  city  honored  him  by  appointing  him  city-physician,  and 
in  1520  made  him  a  member  of  the  city  council.  The  rest 
of  his  life  was  spent  in  his  native  city.  And  there  was  a 
providence  in  it;  for  God  brought  him  home  to  begin  the 
Reformation  in  his  own  city. 
XVII.     Preparations  for  the  Reformation. 

When  he  came  back  to  St.  Gall  there  was  no  sign  of 
the  Reformation.  The  city  was  closely  controlled  by  the 
abbey  and  was  full  of  papal  superstitions.  When  Zwingli 
began  his  work  at  Zurich,  St.  Gall  soon  heard  of  it,  and 
Vadian  was  the  leader  in  the  movement  toward  it.  Thus 
he  gathered  together  those  who  were  inclined  to  be  Evan- 
gelical and  gave  them  lectures  on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 
He  aimed  by  this  to  show  them  what  the  early  church  was 
like.  These  lectures  were  never  published,  but  are  in  the 
city  library  of  St.  Gall.  He  also  tried  to  get  Evangelical 
ministers  and  schoolmasters  for  his  city.  Zwingli  with 
his  missionary  spirit  encouraged  Vadian  and  this  Evangeli- 
cal movement  at  St.  Gall  with  all  his  power.  In  1523  Vadian 
showed  his  sympathy  for  the  Reformers  by  going  to  the 
second  great  disputation  at  Zurich,  where  he  was  made  one 
of  the  presidents  of  the  Conference. 

But  still  St.  Gall  had  not  been  shaken  by  the  Reforma- 
tion. How  was  it  possible  that  a  city,  chained  so  close  to 
Rome  by  the  abbey,  should  become  Reformed.  The  Pro- 
testant movement  began  in  1524.  A  young  man  who  had 
been  born  in  St.  Gall,  named  John  Kessler,  had  gone  away 
to  Basle  to  study  for  the  priesthood.    There  he  met  Erasmus 


THE  REFORMATION   IN  ST.   GALE  37 

and  became  a  humanist.  And  there  he  also  heard  Ecolam- 
padius  and  became  a  Protestant.  He  came  back  to  St.  Gall, 
but  as  he  had  lost  faith  in  the  priesthood,  he  started  as  a 
saddler's  apprentice.  A  number  of  men,  inclined  to  the 
Evangelical  doctrines,  came  to  him  and  asked  him,  though 
only  a  layman,  to  give  them  expositions  of  the  Bible.  And 
soon  hearers  streamed  to  him  from  all  parts  of  the  town. 
The  rulers  of  the  abbey,  alarmed,  brought  complaint  against 
him  to  the  Swiss  Diet.  (They  played  on  his  name,  calling 
him  "Kettlemender.")  The  Diet  warned  St.  Gall  that  a  lay- 
man had  no  right  to  preach.  He  was,  therefore,  called  be- 
fore the  council  of  St.  Gall,  which  ordered  him  to  give  up 
his  Bible  lectures.  But  lo,  it  did  something  better.  It 
ordered  three  preaching  services  each  week  in  the  Churches. 
And  though  Kessler  gave  up  his  Bible  lectures,  they  were 
continued  by  a  converted  monk  of  the  abbey,  named 
Schorant,  and  the  attendance  became  so  great  that  his  fol- 
lowers asked  that  St.  Mangen's  Church  should  be  opened 
to  them.  As  the  abbot  had  its*  doors  locked,  Schorant 
mounted  the  wall  of  the  churchyard  and  preached  to  them. 
But  it  was  still  winter,  and  too  cold  for  open-air  services. 
So,  finally,  on  Sunday,  February  2,  1525,  the  city  council 
opened  the  St.  Lawrence  Church,  the  leading  church  of  the 
city,  and  there  Kessler  preached. 
XVIII.     Introduction  of  the  Reformation  into  St.  Gall. 

In  1526  Vadian  was  made  burgomaster  of  the  city,  and 
was  re-elected  to  that  office  eight  times,  continuing  in  it 
until  his  death.  On  Easter,  1527,  the  first  Protestant  Lord's 
Supper  was  celebrated  in  the  St.  Lawrence  Church.  This 
signified  that  the  city  had  become  Reformed.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  1528  Vadian  attended  the  great  Conference  at 
Bern,  and  was  one  of  its  presidents.  Soon  after  that,  the 
Protestants  carried  the  city  council  at  St.  Gall,  and  so 
gained  entire  control  of  the  city.  In  1528  St.  Gall  made  a 
league  with  the  Protestant  cantons  of  Zurich  and  Bern, 
thus  declaring  her  full  allegiance  to  Protestantism.  At  this 
the  abbot  of  the  monastery  became  alarmed  and  fled  from 


38  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

the  city,  and  Zurich  closed  it  as  a  Catholic  institution. 
On  March  2,  1529,  Zili,  a  Protestant  schoolmaster,  held  the 
first  Protestant  service  in  the  abbey,  at  which  4,000  persons 
were  present  and  Protestant  services  were  held  in  the  abbey 
for  four  years.  Vadian  was  also  busy  doing  missionary 
work  for  Protestantism  in  the  neighboring  canton  of  Appen- 
zell,  so  that  in  1530  a  synod  was  organized  at  which  Zwingli 
was  present. 

But  the  fateful  year  1531  brought  defeat  to  the  Prot- 
estants, as  Zwingli  was  killed  at  the  Battle  of  Cappel. 
Vadian,  when  he  heard  of  it,  fell  into  a  fever  because  of 
anxiety,  saying,  "Oh,  poor  congregation  of  St.  Gall."  And 
well  he  might  be  deeply  anxious,  for  the  act  of  Zurich  In 
taking  the  abbey  at  St.  Gall,  and  allowing  Protestant  ser- 
vices there,  had  greatly  angered  the  Catholics.  Vadian 
could  now  expect  reprisals,  and  they  came.  The  two  abbeys 
of  Einsedeln  and  St.  Gall  were  given  back  to  the  Catholics, 
and  have  been  in  their  hands  ever  since.  The  city  of  St.  Gall 
was  ordered  to  pay  1,000  florins  for  the  injury  clone  to  the 
abbey,  of  which  Zurich  was  to  pay  400. 

XIX.     Vadian's  Later  Years  and  Character. 

Thus  peace  came,  but  the  friction  between  the  Catholic 
abbey  and  the  Protestant  town  continued.  In  1531  the 
Catholics  scattered  pamphlets  throughout  the  town  against 
the  Protestants.  In  reply  the  city  council  forbade  the 
citizens  to  attend  the  services  of  the  abbey.  In  1542  Kessler, 
who  had  started  the  Reformation  at  St.  Gall,  was  called 
back  to  St.  Gall  as  pastor,  and  later,  in  1571,  he  became 
the  head  minister  or  antistes  of  the  Church.  He  died  in 
1578.  Before  he  died  Vadian  had  passed  away,  April  G, 
1551. 

Such  was  the  man  of  whom  Zwingli  said:  "I  know 
no  Swiss  that  equals  him."  Both  Calvin  and  Beza  recog- 
nized him  as  a  man  of  real  piety  and  equally  real  learning. 
He  was  a  many-sided  man.  He  was  a  professor  and  poet 
in  his  youth,  and  a  physician  in  his  later  life.  He  also 
wrote    history,    but    he    excelled    in    geography.      He    was 


VADIAN'S  DEATH  39 

one  of  the  leading  geographers  of  his  time.  But,  greatest 
and  best  of  all,  he  was  an  earnest  Christian.  He  stands  out 
as  the  great  Layman  of  the  Swiss  Reformation.  The  other 
Reformers  were  ministers,  or,  if  they  were  at  first  laymen, 
they  became  preachers.  Not  so  Vadian;  he  was  a  Reformer 
and  yet  a  layman.  His  prominence  is  shown  by  his  appoint- 
ment to  be  president  at  the  religious  Conferences  at  Zurich 
in  1523  and  at  Bern  in  1528.  And  when  the  two  great 
leaders  of  the  Swiss  Reformation,  Zwingli  and  Ecolampa- 
dius,  were  cut  off  by  death  within  about  a  month  of  each 
other,  Vadian  was  then  looked  up  to  by  the  Protestants  of 
Switzerland  as  their  leader.  In  the  negotiations  after  the 
sad  defeat  at  Cappel  in  1531,  Vadian  guided  the  Protestants. 
The  Reformed  Church  has  always  emphasized  the  work 
of  laymen,  and  given  them  an  equal  seat  with  the  ministers 
in  the  church  courts.  What  great  laymen  the  Reformed 
Church  had  in  the  Reformation,  as  Admiral  Coligny  in 
France,  William  of  Orange  in  Holland,  Elector  Frederick 
III  in  Germany,  and  others.  What  kind  of  laymen  and 
church  members  does  the  Reformed  Church  have  now?  Are 
they  worthy  of  those  who  have  gone  before,  or  are  they 
only  "degenerate  sons  of  noble  sires?"  What  an  inspiration 
a  man  like  Vadian  should  be  to  our  church  members,  so 
true,  so  pure  and  so  active  in  God's  cause. 


QUESTIONS 

How  was  Zwingli  a  missionary? 

Describe  the  Conference  at  Baden. 

Describe  the  Conference  at  Bern. 

What  did  Zwingli  send  to  the  Emperor  at  Augsburg? 

How  was  Zwingli  active  in  politics  and  missionary 
work? 

Describe  the  First  Cappel  War,  and  what  did  Zwingli 
write  in  connection  with  it? 


40  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

What  led  to  the  Second  Cappel  War? 

Describe  the  defeat  at  Cappel  and  Zwingli's  death. 

What  was  the  effect  of  the  defeat  at  Cappel? 

Describe  Zwingli's  character  and  theology. 

What  was  Leo  Juda's  early  association  with  Zwingli? 

How  did  Juda  help  Zwingli  at  Zurich? 

Describe  his  later  life. 

Who  was  Ecolampadius,  and  what  did  his  name  mean? 

Describe  his  birth  and  conversion. 

What  were  his  relations  to  Erasmus? 

Describe  his  early  ministry  at  Basle. 

What  part  did  he  take  in  the  Conference  at  Baden? 

How  did  the  Reformation  ultimately  triumph  at  Basle? 

Describe  his  last  years. 

What  was  the  significance  of  his  character  to  us? 

How  did  the  Reformation  spread  through  Switzerland? 

Why  was  St.  Gall  so  difficult  to  make  Protestant? 

Where  was  Vadian  educated? 

What  led  him  to  become  a  Reformer? 

What  did  he  do  at  first  to  introduce  the  Reformation? 

Who  was  the  young  man  who  first  began  preaching  in 
St.  Gall,  and  what  were  its  effects? 

To  what  high  position  in  the  city  was  Vadian  elected? 

When  was  Protestantism  officially  introduced  into  St. 
Gall? 

What  Protestant  service  was  held  at  the  Abbey? 

What  results  did  the  defeat  of  Cappel  have  on  St.  Gall? 

What   was  Vadian's  character? 

What  does  his  life  teach  us? 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Completion  ok  the  Reformation  in  German 

Switzerland  by  HakkKr  and  BueungEr  and  Its 
Beginning  in  French  Switzerland  by  Faree 

I.  Haller's  Youth  and  Education. 

Berthold  Haller,  the  Reformer  of  Bern,  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  way  in  which  a  man  of  ordinary  ability  can  be- 
come great,  because  he  remained  steadfast  in  an  hour  of 
crisis.  He  was  born  in  southern  Germany  in  1492.  He  went 
to  school  with  Melancthon  at  Pforzheim,  in  Germany,  where 
they  became  close  friends.  He  was  called  to  Bern  in  1513 
as  an  assistant  in  the  school  of  his  former  teacher,  Rubellus. 
By  his  industry  and  worth  of  character  he  made  many 
friends.  Gradually  the  way  to  enter  the  priesthood  opened 
before  him,  for  one  of  the  guilds,  the  bakers,  elected  him 
as  their  chaplain;  and  in  1517  he  became  apostolic  notary, 
also  an  ecclesiastical  position.  The  movements  towards 
Protestantism  had  their  forerunner  in  the  influence  of 
Nicholas  Manuel,  one  of  the  leaders  of  Bern,  a  poet,  a 
painter,  a  warrior  and  a  statesman.  But  more  important 
for  Haller  was  the  coming  to  Bern  of  Thomas  Wyttenbach, 
Zwingli's  teacher,  who  in  1515  became  priest  in  the  cathe- 
dral at  Bern.  In  the  latter  part  of  Wyttenbach's  stay  in 
Bern,  Haller  lived  with  him.  It  is  easy  to  see  what  an  influ- 
ence for  the  Reformation  Wyttenbach  would  have  on  him. 
Wyttenbach  left  Bern  in  1520  to  become  a  Reformer  of  his 
birthplace,  Biel,  a  town  west  of  Bern,  though  he  later  re- 
turned to  Bern  and  died  there. 

II.  Beginning  of  the  Reformation  at  Bern. 

In  1520  Haller  was  elected  a  canon  at  the  cathedral. 

41 


42  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

His  eloquent  preaching  gained  him  influence.  His  sermons 
revealed  an  Evangelical  tendency.  When  he  heard  what 
Zwingli  was  doing  at  Zurich  he  greatly  rejoiced.  In  1521 
he  visited  Zwingli  at  Zurich,  and  began  a  friendship  which 
lasted  Until  the  latter's  death.  But  his  preaching  aroused 
hatred,  and  the  Catholics  began  to  call  him  a  heretic.  He 
preferred  peace,  but  circumstances  forced  him  on.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1522,  two  Fastnacht  plays  were  given  at  Bern. 
These  boldly  revealed  the  great  corruption  of  the  Church 
and  helped  to  hasten  the  Reformation.  Haller  began,  like 
Zwingli,  to  preach  on  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  verse  by 
verse.  In  June,  1523,  the  city  council  ordered  that  only 
the  Gospel  should  be  preached,  and  by  November  20  of 
that  year  the  nuns  left  the  convent.  But  in  1524  the  priest 
Meier,  who  sympathized  with  him,  was  compelled  to  leave 
Bern.  That  left  Haller  the  only  Protestant  among  the 
priests.  His  position  was  made  more  difficult  by  the  fact 
that  on  April  7,  1525,  the  council  issued  a  new  decree 
restoring  the  Catholic  worship,  though  with  a  few  changes. 
Haller  was  thus  hindered  and  threatened  on  every  side,  yet 
he  remained  firm. 

In  1526  Haller  attended  the  Conference  at  Baden.  He 
found  everything  arranged  to  prejudice  the  case  against  the 
Evangelicals.  With  Ecolampadius  he  took  part  in  the  de- 
bate, and  attacked  the  doctrine  of  the  mass  as  a  sacrifice. 
He  had  not  the  learning  of  Ecolampadius,  but  he  made  an 
able  defense  from  Scripture.  When  he  returned  to  Bern 
he  found  himself  in  a  dilemma.  The  little  council  had 
ordered  him,  under  pain  of  dismissal,  to  again  perform 
the  mass  (which  he  had  not  done  for  half  a  year),  because 
this  had  been  decreed  by  the  Conference  at  Baden.  The 
matter  was  carried  up  to  the  great  council.  Here  there  was 
a  stormy  session,  so  that  the  rumor  went  abroad  that  they 
had  come  to  blows.  Haller  begged  them  to  be  at  peace, 
and  said  he  would  rather  leave  the  city  than  cause  such 
strife.  But  he  was  vindicated  by  being  reappointed  preacher 
at  the  cathedral. 


THE    BERN   CONFERENCE  43 

And  now  at  last  the  Evangelical  reform  began  really 
to  grow  in  Bern.  Haller's  preaching  produced  a  profound 
impression.  The  plague  came  in  1526  and  solemnized  the 
people,  and  that  helped  the  Protestant  cause.  His  labors 
became  so  great  that  he  begged  for  an  assistant,  and  finally 
gained  one  in  Francis  Kolb.  So  there  were  now  two  Evan- 
gelical preachers  in  the  city  of  Bern.  In  1527  the  Reformed 
party  gained  the  control  of  the  great  council,  and  it  ordered 
that  the  Word  of  God  should  be  preached.  Still  there  was 
a  conflict  about  the  mass,  as  some  congregations  still  ob- 
served it.  Then  came  the  controversy  about  the  marriage 
of  priests  and  about  monasteries.  Haller  wrote  to  Zwingll 
at  that  critical  time  for-  advice.  Zwingli  warned  him  not  to 
go  too  fast  in  setting  aside  the  mass,  until  the  hearts  of  the 
people  revealed  a  great  desire  for  the  Lord's  Supper.  So 
it  was  finally  decided  that  there  should  be  a  religious  dis- 
putation at  Bern,  January  6,  1528,  to  settle  these  questions. 

III.     The  Conference  at  Bern. 

This  Conference  was  attended  by  a  large  number  of 
foreign  delegates,  who  came  from  the  other  cantons  and 
even  from  southern  Germany.  More  than  100  delegates  left 
Zurich  for  Bern,  guarded  by  300  armed  men.  All  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Reformed  were  there;  Bucer  and  Capito  came 
from  Strassburg,  Zwingli  from  Zurich,  and  Ecolampadius 
from  Basle.  They  came  with  the  great  missionary  impulse 
to  convert  the  large  canton  of  Bern  to  Protestantism.  In 
the  discussion  of  the  theses  at  the  Conference,  either  Haller 
or  Kolb  always  began  the  debate  on  each  thesis,  but,  as  we 
have  before  said,  the  commanding  character  at  the  Confer- 
ence was  Zwingli. 

An  interesting  incident  is  told  concerning  Zwingli  at 
this  Conference.  On  Sunday,  January  19,  Zwingli  went 
up  into  the  pulpit  and  preached  on  the  articles  in  the 
Apostles'  Creed  on  Christ's  ascension,  session,  and  second 
coming.  "These  three  articles,"  says  Zwingli,  "contradict 
the  mass."    While  he  was  thus  preaching  against  the  mass, 


44  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

a  priest  attempted  to  celebrate  mass  at  one  of  the  side 
altars.  But  as  he  listened  to  Zwingli,  he  stopped  in  aston- 
ishment at  Zwingli's  words.  And  suddenly,  in  the  presence 
of  the  whole  congregation,  he  tore  off  his  priest's  robes,  and, 
throwing  them  on  the  altar,  he  exclaimed:  "Unless  the 
mass  rests  on  a  more  solid  foundation,  I  can  celebrate  it 
no  longer." 

This  dramatic  conversion  of  this  priest  produced  a 
most  profound  impression  on  the  council  and  the  city,  and 
undoubtedly  helped  the  Reformed  to  gain  the  victory  at  the 
Conference.  The  result  of  this  Conference  was  that  the 
great  council,  on  January  27,  1528,  ordered  that  in  the  city 
all  masses  should  be  stopped  and  all  images  cast  out.  On 
February  7,  1528,  it  ordered  the  same  for  the  whole  canton. 
Haller  also  received  assistant  ministers,  who  were  Evan- 
gelical, to  help  him.  In  April,  1528,  the  Protestant  Lord's 
Supper  was  first  celebrated,  and  thus  the  great  canton  of 
Bern  became  Reformed.  But  the  influence  of  this  Confer- 
ence not  only  wheeled  the  large  canton  of  Bern  into  the 
Protestant  column,  but  opened  the  way  for  the  introduction 
of  the  Protestant  Gospel  into  the  cantons  of  French  Switzer- 
land, as  we  shall  see  when  we  take  up  Farel's  life.  We 
shall  then  see  how  Bern  constantly  worked  to  introduce 
and  protect  Protestantism  in  French  Switzerland.  Haller 
continued  preaching  the  Gospel  faithfully  until  his  end 
came  on  the  25th  of  February,  1536.  He  had  been  a  faithful 
witness  for  his  Master,  often  standing  alone  for  the  Gospel 
amid  much  opposition  and  danger. 

IV.     Henry  Bullinger — His  Birth  and  Education. 

Henry  Bullinger  belongs  to  the  second  generation  of 
the  Reformers.  Those  we  have  already  described  belonged 
to  the  first  generation.  Bullinger  came  in  to  complete  in 
Zurich  what  Zwingli  had  begun.  He  was  born  July  18, 
1504,  at  the  little  town  of  Bremgarten,  west  of  Zurich. 
His  life  was  evidently  preserved  for  great  purposes,  for 
several  times  he  was  saved  from  death  in  his  boyhood  days. 


BULLINGER'S  EARLY  LIFE  45 

At  the  age  of  twelve  he  went  abroad  to  study.  We  have 
already  spoken  of  humanism  as  one  of  the  preparatory  move- 
ments to  the  Reformation.  We  must  here  note  another,  the 
schools  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life.  The  Brethren 
of  the  Common  Life  was  an  Order  in  the  Catholic  Church 
founded  before  the  Reformation  by  spiritually-minded  men, 
who  longed  for  better  things  than  they  found  in  the  Catholic 
Church  of  their  day.  They  founded  schools  to  prepare 
priests  and  monks  for  a  higher,  better  ministry.  The  most 
famous  of  this  Order  was  Thomas  A'Kempis,  whose  "Imita- 
tion of  Christ"  reveals  the  deep  piety  of  the  man,  though 
tinctured  with  monasticism.  To  one  of  the  schools  of  the 
Brethren  of  the  Common  Life  at  Emmerich,  in  Holland, 
Bullinger  went.  There  he  received  an  excellent  education. 
Like  Luther,  he  sang  in  the  streets  and  at  the  doors  of 
private  houses  so  as  to  gain  money  for  his  education. 

After  remaining  there  three  years  he  went,  in  1519, 
to  the  university  of  Cologne.  This  university  was  intensely 
Catholic,  and  bitterly  opposed  Protestantism,  and  yet  in 
1520  Luther's  works  were  scattered  abroad  in  Cologne, 
although  the  university  declared  them  heretical.  Bullinger 
felt  the  influence  of  this  upheaval  that  was  taking  place 
around  him,  and  with  greater  earnestness  than  ever  he 
studied  the  early  Fathers  of  the  Church.  He  noted  the 
difference  between  them  and  the  Catholic  doctrines  of  his 
time.  Then  he  secretly  read  Luther's  works,  especially  his 
"Babylonish  Captivity."  It  seemed  to  him  that  Luther  came 
nearer  to  the  early  Church  Fathers  than  the  Catholics  of 
his  day,  especially  because  the  Fathers  founded  themselves 
on  the  Bible  rather  than  on  the  Church.  So  he  secured  a 
New  Testament  and  read  it.  The  result  of  it  was  that  he 
gave  up  the  previous  plan  of  his  life,  which  had  been  to 
join  one  of  the  strictest  Orders  of  the  monks,  the  Car- 
thusians. In  fact,  he  found  that  the  whole  Romish  system 
was  becoming  distasteful  to  him.  Then  Melancthon's 
"Commonplaces,"  a  work  on  theology,  fell  into  his  hands. 
This  so  impressed  him  that,  in  1521  and  1522,  he  became  a 


46  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

great  student  of  the  Bible,  reading  it  day  and  night.  Thus 
he  gradually  passed  out  of  the  Catholic  Church.  In  1522 
he  returned  home  to  Switzerland. 

V.  His  Call  to  Zurich. 

But  what  should  be  do?  His  education  had  been  for 
the  monkhood,  but  now  he  must  do  something  else.  So  he 
went  to  teaching,  and  in  1523  was  rector  of  the  cloister 
school  at  Cappel,  and  later,  in  1528,  became  pastor  at  Cap- 
pel.  In  1529  he  became  pastor  at  Bremgarten,  where  he 
was  born.  But  in  1531,  when  Zurich  was  defeated  at  Cappel, 
he  was  compelled  by  the  Catholic  army  to  flee  from  Brem- 
garten, and  found  refuge  in  Zurich.  He  found  everything 
there  in  confusion.  The  Catholic  party  was  trying  to 
manoeuvre  things  so  as  to  bring  Zurich  back  to  Catholicism. 
The  Protestants  had  no  leader,  for  the  reaction  against 
Zwingli  had  compelled  Leo  Juda  to  hide  himself.  Things 
looked  dark  for  the  Protestants.  While  Zurich  was  waiting 
for  the  answer  of  Ecolampadius  to  become  the  head  min- 
ister, Bullinger  was  invited  to  preach  in  the  cathedral.  He 
preached  with  such  power  that  many  thought  him  Zwingli 
risen  from  the  dead.  His  youth  made  him  unmindful  of 
his  danger.  A  contemporary  said:  "Only  young  Bullinger 
thunders."  He  was  the  kind  of  man  that  Zurich  was  look- 
ing for  as  antistes,  or  head  minister;  and  when  Ecolampa- 
dius declined  that  position,  Bullinger  was  elected,  though 
only  27  years  of  age.  He  proved  to  be  the  man  of  the  hour. 
It  was  a  great  honor,  but  also  a  great  responsibility  for  so 
young  a  man  to  be  called  to  so  prominent  a  place. 

VI.  His  Activity  as  Antistes. 

Fortunately  he  was  a  man  of  great  courage,  common 
sense,  prudence  and  eloquence,  so  that  he  splendidly  filled 
Zwingli's  place.  By  his  wisdom  he  destroyed  the  hopes  of 
the  Catholics  for  a  reaction  at  Zurich,  and  by  his  firmness 
he  rallied  the  Reformed.  He  soon  became  known  all  over 
Europe  as  the  worthy  successor  of  Zwingli.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  kindness  of  heart,  and  when  the  family  of  Zwingli 


BULLINGER'S  ACTIVITY  47 

was  left  in  poverty  by  Zwingli's  sudden  death,  he  took  them 
under  his  roof  and  raised  the  children  as  his  own.  He 
was  also  accustomed  to  take  promising  young  men  into  his 
family  in  order  to  study  for  the  ministry,  and  an  interesting 
romance  grew  out  of  it.  One  of  these  young  men  was 
Rudolph  Gualther,  who  fell  in  love  with  Zwingli's  daughter, 
Regula,  and  later  married  her.  Later  Gualther  became  the 
successor  of  Zwingli  and  Bullinger  as  the  antistes  of  the 
Church  at  Zurich.  Bullinger  proved  himself  a  very  wise 
administrator  of  the  Church.  He  was  also  an  eloquent 
preacher  and  a  faithful  pastor.  He  exerted  a  great  influence 
on  the  city  government,  as  he  had  the  courage  of  his  con- 
victions. He  was  very  watchful  against  the  Catholics,  pre- 
venting them  from  doing  any  work  in  Zurich  that  would 
undermine  the  Protestants. 

VII.     The  Tigurine  Confession. 

He  was  also  influential  outside  of  Zurich.  The  Prot- 
estant cantons  looked  on  him  as  their  mediator.  He  was 
especially  successful  in  welding  the  Reformed  of  French, 
or  southern  Switzerland,  with  those  of  German,  or  northern 
Switzerland.  This  was  done  in  1549,  when  Calvin  and 
Bullinger  drew  up  a  creed  called  the  Tigurine  Confession, * 
in  which  they  agreed  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
In  doing  so  Bullinger  accepted  Zwingli's  later  view,  that 
there  was  a  spiritual  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. This  view  is  familiarly  called  the  Calvinistic,  and 
holds  that  the  Lord's  Supper  has  not  merely  a  past  reference 
as  in  the  memorial  view,  but  brings  a  present  spiritual 
blessing  to  those  who  have  faith.  Bullinger  also  drew  up 
the  Second  Helvetic  Confession,  the  most  widely  adopted  of 
the  Reformed  confessions.  He  at  first  drew  it  up  as  his 
own  personal  creed,  but  when  it  was  published  it  was 
adopted  by  all  the  Protestant  cantons  of  Switzerland  as 
their  creed,  and  was  afterward  adopted  by  other  Reformed 
churches,  as  Hungary,  Bohemia,  etc. 

*  Tigurine  is  derived  from  the  word  Zurich. 


48  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

VIII.     His  Missionary  Spirit. 

He  felt  a  deep  interest  in  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  every- 
where. Thus  he  was  deeply  interested  in  the  conversion 
of  Italy.  The  Reformation  had  gained  adherents  in  north- 
ern Italy,  at  Locarno,  and  he  had  aided  them  with  his 
counsel  and  influence.  A  congregation  of  two  hundred  was 
organized  by  Beccaria.  But  Beccaria  was  driven  away,  and 
then  the  Protestants,  in  1555,  were  summoned  before  the 
city  council  and  ordered  to  become  Catholics  or  leave  the 
town  in  midwinter.  They  refused  to  recant,  and  were 
driven  out  at  a  season  when  all  access  to  the  Protestants 
on  the  northern  side  of  the  Alps  was  impossible.  They 
fled  to  a  neighboring  valley  belonging  to  the  Swiss  canton 
of  the  Grisons.  But,  as  they  were  unsafe  there,  they,  in  the 
spring,  before  the  Swiss  passes  were  open,  fled,  men,  women 
and  children,  over  the  snows  of  the  St.  Bernardino  pass. 
They  came  to  Coire,  and  then  to  Zurich,  where  Bullinger 
and  the  citizens,  who  had  before  fostered  them,  gave  them 
a  cordial  welcome,  and  many  of  them  settled  there.  Some 
of  the  most  prominent  families  of  Zurich  to-day  are  de- 
scended from  them.  The  fact  is  that  the  present  promi- 
nence of  Zurich  as  the  largest  of  the  Swiss  cities  is  due  to 
the  silk  industry  which  these  Italian  refugees  brought  with 
them  there. 

Bullinger  was  also  deeply  interested  in  the  conversion 
of  England  to  Protestantism.  Many  were  his  letters  to  the 
Evangelicals  there,  giving  them  encouragement  and  guid- 
ance. He  watched  every  move  there  with  the  deepest  solici- 
tude. When  the  Protestants  were  driven  out,  he  welcomed 
them  to  Zurich.  One  of  the  first  to  come  was  Hooper, 
later  a  bishop  of  the  Anglican  Church  and  founder  of  the 
low-church  party  in  that  Church.  When  Queen  Mary  came 
to  the  throne  of  England,  and  Hooper  was  imprisoned  and 
put  to  death,  Bullinger's  letters  to  him  in  prison  greatly 
strengthened  him.  Hooper,  in  dying,  gave  his  glove  to 
Bullinger,  as  a  token  of  affection,  and  it  was  long  pre- 
served in  the  Bullinger  family  as  a  sacred  relic.     Many  of 


BULLINGER    AND    FAREL  49 

the  British  ministers  who  fled  from  the  Marian  persecution 
came  to  Zurich.  Bullinger  gladly  received  them,  and  even 
opened  a  theological  school  for  their  young  students.  In 
1558,  after  Queen  Mary's  death,  they  went  back  to  England 
to  re-found  the  Anglican  Church,  in  which  five  of  them 
became  bishops.  All  this  gave  Bullinger  great  influence  in 
that  Church.  Thus  in  many  parishes  the  clergy  were 
required  to  read  his  sermons,  and  his  work,  "The  Ten 
Decades,"  was  used  in  Oxford  university  as  the  guide  in 
theology.  As  a  sign  of  their  gratefulness  for  his  kindness, 
three  of  these  bishops  each  presented  silver  cups  to  the 
Church  of  Zurich,  and  a  finely  embellished  cup  was  sent  by 
Queen  Elizabeth  in  1560  to  Bullinger.*  Bullinger  also  had 
an  interesting  correspondence  with  Lady  Jane  Grey,  whose 
three  Latin  letters  to  him  are  among  the  gems  in  the 
Zwingli  Museum  at  Zurich. 

Bullinger  reveals  his  missionary  zeal  in  his  corre- 
spondence. It,  like  that  of  Calvin's,  became  very  great. 
Many,  for  instance,  were  the  letters  he  wrote  to  the  canton 
of  the  Grisons  so  as  to  make  it  Protestant.  He  was  also 
deeply  interested  in  the  evangelization  of  Poland,  and  wrote 
many  letters  there.  He  thus  exerted  a  wide  influence  all 
over  Europe.  His  work  was  so  large  that  finally,  in  1575, 
his  health  gave  way.  On  August  26  he  bade  good-bye  to 
the  ministers  of  Zurich,  and  on  Saturday  evening,  Septem- 
ber 17,  1575,  he  passed  to  his  reward,  after  almost  a  half 
century  of  leadership  in  the  Zurich  Church  and  indeed  of 
all  the  Reformed  Churches.  His  death  was  greatly  mourned 
all  over  Europe. 

IX.     William  Farel. 

William  Farel  was  the  picturesque  character  among 
the  Reformers,  for  he  was  the  great  evangelist  of  the  Ref- 
ormation—the Elijah  of  the  Alps— the  John  the  Baptist, 
preparing  the  way  of  Jesus  in  many  hearts.  He  was  a 
mighty  preacher  with  a  tremendous  voice — the  Whitefield 

*  These  are  in  the  National  Museum  in  Zurich. 


50  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

of  the  Reformation.  He  excelled  all  the  Reformers  in 
daring  courage,  for  it  is  said  "he  feared  no  man,  only  God." 
And  he  might  also  be  called  the  great  foreign  missionary 
of  the  Reformation,  because  he  went  into  territory  that  had 
never  heard  the  Evangelical  Gospel  and  evangelized  it.  The 
other  Reformers  were  most  of  them  mainly  home  mission- 
aries, building  up  the  church  in  their  own  cities  or  districts, 
as  Zwingli  in  Zurich  and  Bucer  in  Strassburg.  Calvin,  too, 
was  rather  a  home  missionary,  for  he  aimed  to  build  up 
the  church  in  Geneva.  But  Farel  was  a  foreign  missionary. 
To-day  we  call  those  whom  we  send  to  Catholic  lands,  as 
Latin  America,  foreign  missionaries.  If  they  are  foreign 
missionaries,  so  was  Farel,  who,  like  them,  evangelized  in 
Catholic  lands  that  knew  not  the  Gospel.  Everywhere  that 
Farel  went  he  preached  and  talked  Christ  to  the  people 
with  true  missionary  zeal. 

X.     Farel's  Youth  and  Conversion. 

Farel  was  a  Frenchman  by  birth,  having  been  born 
(1489)  at  Gap,  in  the  French  Alps.  As  a  boy  he  was  fond  of 
adventure.  Into  whatever  he  went,  he  went  with  his  whole 
heart.  So  in  his  youth  he  was  an  intensely  bigoted  and 
superstitious  papist;  and  when  he  later  became  a  Protestant 
he  put  the  same  whole-heartedness  into  his  work.  As  a 
youth  he  wanted  to  study,  and  so  went  to  Paris.  Fortunately 
for  him,  there  was  in  the  university  at  that  time  a  pro- 
fessor who  was  to  him  what  Wyttenbach  had  been  to 
Zwingli, — Prof.  James  Lefevre,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  before 
either  Luther  or  Zwingli,  taught  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith,  in  his  lectures.  Under  his  teachings  the  eyes  of 
this  "rigid  papist,"  Farel,  were  opened  to  the  truth.  There 
were  at  that  time  in  Paris  and  the  neighborhood  a  circle 
of  pious  spirits  who  were  drawn  together  by  their  Evan- 
gelical views.  They  were  protected  by  Margaret,  the  king's 
sister,  who  belonged  to  them.  Farel  joined  himself  to  them, 
but  he  was  too  outspoken  for  them.  They,  though  Evan- 
gelical,   wanted    to   remain    in   the   Catholic    Church.     But 


FAREL  AT   MONTBELIARD  51 

Farel  never  stopped  half-way  in  anything.     The  result  was 
that  he  was  compelled  to  leave  France. 

XI.     Farel  in  Exile. 

He  fled  to  Basle;  but  what  could  he  do  there?  He  was 
bursting  to  tell  the  Gospel,  but  could  not,  as  they  spoke 
German  and  he  spoke  French.  Finally  God  found  a  place 
for  him  in  the  District  of  Montbeliard,  west  of  Basle. 
This  was  then  under  the  control  of  the  Duke  of  Wurtem- 
berg  of  Germany,  and  was  then  opening  to  the  Gospel. 
Ecolampadius  ordained  him  at  Basle  in  July,  1524,  and  sent 
him  to  Montbeliard  to  labor.  His  preaching  soon  caused 
a  sensation,  for  there  was  always  a  sensation  when  Farel 
was  about.  Many  heard  and  believed.  As  he  was  walking 
on  the  banks  of  the  little  river  that  flows  through  the  town 
of  Montbeliard  on  a  Catholic  festival  day,  he  met  a  Catholic 
procession  crossing  the  bridge  over  the  river.  They  were 
reciting  prayers,  and  were  led  by  two  priests  bearing  the 
image  of  the  saint.  His  blood  boiled  at  the  sight  of  such 
idolatry.  Unable  to  restrain  himself,  he  boldly  advanced, 
and,  grasping  the  image  from  the  hands  of  the  priests,  he 
threw  it  over  the  bridge  into  the  river.  Then  he  turned 
to  the  surprised  crowd  and  said,  "Poor  idolaters,  will  you 
never  cease  from  your  idolatries?"  It  would  have  gone 
hard  with  Farel,  for  he  would  have  been  mobbed  by  the 
procession,  had  not  an  incident  saved  him.  The  priests, 
surprised  and  horror-stricken,  for  the  moment  lost  their 
presence  of  mind.  Then  some  one  cried  out,  "The  image 
is  drowning,"  as  if  an  image  of  wood  could  sink  and  be 
drowned.  This  diverted  the  attention  of  the  crowd  from 
Farel  to  the  image.  They  rushed  to  save  the  saint  in  the 
water,  and  in  the  excitement  Farel  escaped.  But  he  had 
done  a  most  daring  thing;  and  yet  we  will  find  that  he  was 
constantly  doing  such  things.  The  duke,  however,  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  Montbeliard,  and  so  Farel  had  to  leave.  He 
went  back  to  Basle,  then  to  Strassburg,  where  for  fifteen 
months  he  preached  to  French  exiles.     He  was  waiting  for 


52  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

an   opportunity    to   preach   the    Gospel    to   Frenchmen,    and 
finally  the   opportunity   came. 

XII.     Farel  at  Aigle. 

His  field  was  to  be  French  Switzerland,  and  there,  in 
his  own  French  language,  he  could  preach  his  Gospel.  Bern 
had  been  capturing  the  French  districts  north  of  Lake 
Geneva.  At  the  southeastern  end  of  this  district,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Rhone,  was  the  town  of  Aigle.  At  the  sug- 
gestion of  Haller,  the  Reformer  at  Bern,  Farel  went  there 
in  December,  1526,  but  disguised  as  a  schoolmaster,  under 
the  name  of  Ursinus.  He  gathered  the  children  and  taught 
them,  and  he  also  taught  them  the  Bible  and  Christ.  Then 
he  went  further  and  began  teaching  the  parents  against 
Romish  errors,  as  purgatory  and  intercession  of  the  saints. 
When  he  had  gained  their  respect,  he  announced  himself 
as  William  Farel,  and  showed  his  appointment  by  the  gov- 
ernment of  Bern  to  be  their  preacher.  It  happened  there 
was  a  priest  there  who  was  afraid  to  attack  Farel  because 
of  his  great  eloquence.  So  he  went  to  a  neighboring  village, 
and  from  the  pulpit  denounced  Farel,  declaring  that  the 
devil  preached  through  Farel.  He  then  went  back  to  Aigle, 
and  on  his  way  met  Farel,  who  had  heard  what  the  priest 
had  said.  "Did  you  preach  against  me?"  asked  Farel,  "and 
say  that  the  devil  spoke  through  me?"  You  must  make 
good  your  statement,  for  I  am  ready  to  stake  my  life  in 
defense  of  my  doctrines."  The  monk  began  to  bluster  and 
denounce  Farel,  and  a  crowd  began  to  gather.  Farel  still 
demanded  proof  from  him,  and  took  advantage  of  the  crowd 
to  give  them  some  of  the  Gospel.  The  friar,  pale  and 
flushed  by  turns,  took  off  his  cap  and,  tramping  it  under 
foot,  said:  "I  wonder  the  earth  does  not  open  and  swallow 
you  up."  One  of  the  bystanders  took  the  monk  by  the 
sleeve  and  said:  "Listen  to  him  as  he  has  listened  to  you." 
The  monk,  half-dead  with  fright,  said  to  the  man  who  held 
his  sleeve:  "Thou  art  excommunicated."  At  this  the  town 
was  in  an  uproar.    The  result  was  that  Farel,  being  backed 


FAREL  AT   NEUCHATEL  -53 

by  the  government  at  Bern,  compelled  the  monk  to  publicly 
apologize.  For  the  Bern  authorities  always  tried  to  spread 
Protestantism. 

XIII.     Farel  in  Neuchatel. 

Farel  now  turned  to  a  larger  field  than  Aigle.  Pro- 
tected by  Bern,  he  went  to  evangelize  in  the  large  district  of 
Vaud,  south  of  Bern.  He  preached  at  Morat,  and  gained 
some  disciples,  and  at  Lausanne,  but  was  driven  out.  On 
a  December  day,  1529,  a  frail  boat  was  seen  to  cross  the 
lake  of  Neuchatel  to  its  western  coast.  In  it  was  Farel, 
who  wanted  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  this  entirely  Romish 
district  of  Neuchatel.  Not  Caesar  when  he  crossed  the 
Rubicon,  with  the  empire  of  Rome  on  his  shoulders,  carried 
a  greater  responsibility  than  did  Farel;  for  the  salvation 
of  the  whole  of  French  Switzerland  was  resting  upon  him. 
No  foreign  missionary  now  traveling  on  a  steamer  over  the 
ocean  was  more  really  a  missionary  than  he  in  this  boat. 

He  landed  at  the  village  of  Serrieres,  about  three  miles 
south  of  the  town  of  Neuchatel.  He  knew  that  the  priest 
there  was  favorable  to  the  Gospel,  and  he  asked  if  he  could 
preach  in  his  church.  The  priest  replied  that  the  bishop 
had  forbidden  Farel's  preaching  in  any  of  the  churches. 
But  he  added  that  "the  bishop  had  laid  no  injunction  against 
preaching  on  the  rocks  and  in  the  open  air."  So  Farel, 
taking  the  hint,  mounted  a  gravestone  beside  the  door  of 
the  church  and  preached  the  first  Protestant  sermon  in  that 
district.  That  stone  became  the  cornerstone  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  of  the  canton  of  Neuchatel,  all  of  whose 
inhabitants  are  now  Protestants. 

But  the  people  in  the  town  of  Neuchatel,  having  heard 
that  Farel  was  near,  sent  for  him  to  come  to  their  city. 
So  at  a  fountain  at  the  foot  of  the  citadel  hill  he  preached 
his  first  sermon.  At  first  there  was  some  disorder.  "Throw 
him  into  the  fountain,"  "Beat  out  his  brains,"  were  cries 
that  were  heard.  But  Farel  was  a  preacher  who  feared 
neither  drowning  nor  beating.     So  he  continued  preaching 


54'  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

to  ever-increasing  audiences.  Then  he  went  back  across 
the  lake  to  the  eastern  shore  to  fill  the  whole  district  with 
his  doctrines.  The  priests  there  became  so  alarmed  at 
his  presence  that  a  humorous  scene  took  place.  In  one 
of  the  towns,  while  the  priest  was  at  the  high  altar  of 
the  church  saying  mass,  Farel  entered  unobserved.  He  went 
up  into  the  pulpit  and  began  to  preach.  The  priest,  when 
he  heard  Farel's  voice  and  recognized  him,  was  so  frightened 
that  he  did  not  finish  chanting  the  mass,  but  ran  out  of 
the  church.  Then  Farel  preached  to  the  congregation,  and 
they  tore  out  the  images  and  the  altars,  and  made  the 
church  Protestant.  By  the  middle  of  the  year  1530  Farel 
returned  to  the  town  of  Neuchatel,  and  the  number  of 
Protestants  greatly  increased.  Matters  came  to  a  climax 
on  Sunday,  October  23.  As  Farel  was  preaching  in  one  of 
the  down-town  churches,  his  congregation  took  him  and 
climbed  the  steep  street  up  the  hill  to  the  castle  and  to  the 
cathedral.  The  canons  and  priests  tried  to  stop  them,  but 
in  vain.  They  forced  their  way  through  the  crowd  and 
entered  the  cathedral.  They  placed  Farel  in  the  pulpit,  and 
he  preached  one  of  his  most  effective  sermons.  When  he 
was  through,  they  knocked  down  the  images,  crucifixes  and 
altars;  and  the  traveler  who  visits  Neuchatel  to-day  will 
see  in  the  cathedral  an  inscription,  in  large  letters:  "On 
October  23,  1530,  idolatry  was  overthrown  in  this  church 
by  the  citizens." 

XIV.     Farel  at  Vallengin. 

Just  before  the  last  event,  Farel  went,  in  company  with 
a  young  Protestant  named  Anthony  Boyve,  to  the  town  of 
Vallengin,  a  few  miles  west  of  Neuchatel.  The  priest  was 
about  to  chant  the  mass,  when  Farel  entered  the  pulpit  and 
began  preaching.  While  he  was  preaching,  the  priest  and 
his  choir  were  chanting  the  mass.  Suddenly  Boyve,  seeing 
that  the  mass  was  beginning  to  be  preferred  to  the  sermon, 
rushed  up  to  the  priest,  and,  snatching  the  host  from  his 
hands,  cried  out.  "This  is  not  the  God  you  should  worship. 


FAREL  AT  GENEVA  55 

He  is  above,  in  heaven."  The  audience  was  awed  by  this, 
and  Farel  took  advantage  of  the  silence  to  preach.  But 
the  priests  and  their  party  rushed  to  the  tower  and  rang 
the  alarm  bell.  This  caused  the  whole  town  to  gather. 
Farel  and  Boyve  would  have  been  killed  had  they  not 
retired.  And  as  they  were  trying  to  go  back  to  Neuchatel 
they  were  attacked  with  stones  and  clubs,  and  dragged,  half 
dead,  to  the  castle  at  Vallengin.  "Drown  them,"  said  its 
owner,  the  countess;  "throw  them  into  the  river,  these  Luth- 
eran dogs,  who  have  despised  the  host."  Never  was  Farel 
nearer  to  death.  But  just  then  several  persons  arrived  from 
Neuchatel  and  suggested  caution,  and  so  they  were  thrown 
into  prison.  But  they  so  beat  Farel  that  the  bloodstains 
were  on  the  walls  there  for  six  years.  However,  the  Bern- 
ese had  him  freed,  though  he  had  to  rest  for  a  month  to 
recover  from  his  injuries. 

XV.     Farel  at  Geneva. 

But  Farel  had  his  eyes  on  a  greater  conquest  than 
Neuchatel.  He  wanted  the  city  of  Geneva,  the  largest  in 
French  Switzerland,  to  be  won  for  Christ.  He  had  been 
down  (1532)  to  Italy  to  win  the  Waldenses  to  the  Reformed. 
On  his  return  he  stopped  at  Geneva.  Here  he  preached  in 
his  hotel,  and  it  created  a  great  sensation.  He  and  his  com- 
panion, Saunier,  were  brought  before  the  city  council,  but 
when  they  found  that  Farel  was  protected  by  Bern,  they 
ordered  him  out  of  town.  Before  he  left,  however,  the 
Catholics  proposed  that  a  disputation  should  be  held.  They 
thus  hoped  to  get  Farel  in  their  power  and  kill  him.  Farel, 
at  this  disputation,  attempted  to  defend  the  Gospel,  but  he 
was  spit  upon  and  beaten.  A  gun  was  leveled  at  him  and 
the  priming  flashed,  but  the  gun  did  not  go  off.  Farel 
turned  and  said,  "Your  toy  does  not  alarm  me.  I  am  not 
to  be  shaken  by  a  popgun."  Farel  then  got  away  from  the 
priests  and  managed  to  get  out  of  town,  by  the  aid  of  some 
friends  who  rescued  him  from  the  mob.  But,  although  he 
left  the  city,  a  little  band  of  believers  remained,  and  one 


56  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

morning,  just  before  sunrise,  they  met  in  a  garden  outside 
of  one  of  the  city  gates,  to  celebrate  the  first  Protestant 
Lord's  Supper.  They  were  in  great  danger,  for  if  the 
priests  had  found  out  what  they  were  doing,  they  would 
have  been  killed.  But  as  the  ceremony  was  taking  place, 
the  sun  rose  over  Mount  Blanc,  and  they  took  it  as  the 
sign  from  God  of  His  blessing. 

As  it  was  too  dangerous  for  Farel  to  go  back  to  Geneva, 
he  sent  there  a  school  teacher  named  Froment,  to  begin 
by  teaching  the  Gospel  as  he  had  previously  done  at  Aigle. 
Froment  soon  gathered  a  school  and  taught  Protestantism. 
Finally  his  adherents  led  him  to  the  Molard  Square,  where 
he  held  the  first  public  Protestant  service,  preaching  from  a 
market  stall.  But  an  armed  band  of  Catholics  forced  their 
way  to  Froment  and  took  him  away,  so  that  it  was  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  that  he  was  saved.  He,  however,  had 
to  leave  Geneva,   and   his  school  was  broken  up. 

All  now  seemed  lost  in  Geneva.  But  about  Christmas, 
1533,  there  came  to  Geneva  a  deputation  from  Bern  that 
brought  three  preachers  with  it,  Farel,  Viret  and  Froment, 
and  insisted  that  they  be  heard.  When  Lent  came,  1534, 
the  Bernese  demanded  that  their  preachers  be  heard  publicly, 
as  there  were  rumors  abroad  that  the  Protestant  preachers 
kept  in  dark  corners  and  dared  not  appear  in  the  Churches. 
So  Farel  was  placed  in  the  Franciscan  pulpit,  and  preached 
the  first  Protestant  sermon  preached  in  a  Church  there. 
When  Whitsunday  came,  a  Protestant  communion  was  held. 
Farel  administering  it.  As  it  was  being  held,  it  appeared 
for  a  moment  as  if  there  would  be  a  disturbance,  for  a 
priest  in  full  clerical  dress  walked  in  as  if  he  would  break 
up  the  service.  While  all  held  their  breath,  he  walked  up 
to  the  communion  table,  threw  off  his  robes,  and  asked  to 
be  received  as  a  Protestant.  After  this,  gradually  one 
church  after  another  was  opened  to  the  Protestants. 

On  August  8,  1535,  as  Farel  was  on  his  way  to  preach 
in  the  Franciscan  church,  he  was  met  by  a  strong  body  of 
men,   who  took  him  to  the  main  church,  the  cathedral  of 


PAREL  AND  CALVIN  57 

St.  Peter,  and  from  its  pulpit  he  preached  the  old  Prot- 
estant Gospel.  Then  they  threw  the  images  out  of  all  the 
churches.  Finally,  on  May  21,  1536,  the  citizens  took  the 
oath  to  support  the  Reformation. 

XVI.  Farel  arid  Calvin. 

Parel  prayed  to  God  to  send  him  a  helper',  for  the  work 
had  grown  too  large  for  him.  God  always  hears  such 
prayers.  Two  months  after  the  Genevese  had  accepted 
Protestantism,  in  July,  1536,  a  young  man  earned  to  Geneva, 
named  John  Calvin,  already  famous  because  he  had  written 
the  best  book  on  theology  in  the  Reformation.  Such  a  man 
Farel  had  been  praying  for.  And  when  he  heard  that 
Calvin  was  in  Geneva,  he  called  at  his  hotel  and  urged 
him  to  stay.  The  wonderful  story  of  Farel's  call  to  Calvin 
will  be  given  in  the  next  chapter.  The  result  of  this  con- 
ference was  that  Calvin  decided  to  remain,  and  he  became 
Farel's  co-laborer.  Gradually  the  younger  became  more 
famous  than  the  older,  because  he  was  a  man  of  superlative 
ability.  Farel,  however,  was  never  jealous,  but  cordially 
worked  with  him.  In  this  he  sets  a  good  example  to  many 
Christian  workers  to-day.  Hand  in  hand  these  two  Reform- 
ers labored  to  make  Geneva  a  model  city.  They  succeeded 
in  getting  very  strict  laws  passed  against  gambling,  swear- 
ing, dancing,  etc.  But  the  laws  proved  to  be  too  severe, 
for  there  came  a  reaction  against  them.  Finally  a  breach 
occurred.  Calvin  and  Farel  refused  to  administer  the  Lord's 
Supper  by  the  use  of  unleavened  bread  and  without  proper 
church  discipline.  The  result  was  that  they  were  both 
ordered  to  leave  the  city  within  three  days.  They  departed 
and  went  to  Basle,  where  they  separated  in  their  life-work. 
Calvin  went  to  Strassburg,  and  afterwards  returned  to 
Geneva.  Farel  went  to  Neuchatel,  whose  church  was  still 
greatly  attached  to  him. 

XVII.  Farel's  Last  Years  at  Neuchatel. 

Farel's  life,  after  he  became  pastor  at  Neuchatel,  was 
comparatively  tame,  compared  with  his  earlier  life.    He  was 


58  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

getting  older,  though  he  still  had  the  same  courage.  Prot- 
estantism was  also  becoming  better  established,  so  that  the 
scenes  through  which  he  had  once  gone  did  not  need  to  be 
so  often  repeated.  Yet  the  old  missionary  fire  was  in  him. 
Thus  in  1542  he  went  to  Metz,  and  was  urged  to  preach  on 
the  next  Sabbath.  A  pulpit  had  been  erected  in  the  church- 
yard of  the  Dominicans,  and  from  it  he  preached  to  a  large 
audience.  While  he  was  preaching,  two  of  the  monks  came 
and  ordered  him  to  be  silent.  As  he  paid  no  attention  to 
them,  they  had  the  church  bells  rung.  But  Farel's  wonder- 
ful voice  rose  above  the  din.  The  next  day  he  preached  to 
3,000  hearers.  The  town  council,  however,  became  alarmed 
and  stopped  his  services.  Then  he  retired  to  the  neighbor- 
ing town  of  Gorze.  When  a  monk  was  preaching  on  salva- 
tion through  Mary,  Farel  arose  in  the  audience  and  ques- 
tioned his  statements.  But  the  women  in  the  church  han- 
dled him  so  severely  that  he  nearly  lost  his  life.  On  Easter 
many  came  there  from  Metz,  and  he  celebrated  the  Lord's 
Supper  with  them.  This  greatly  enraged  the  Catholics  at 
Metz,  and  as  Farel  was  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper,  sud- 
denly armed  troops  fell  on  them.  Some  were  killed.  Farel 
was  wounded,  but  escaped.  After  a  year's  absence,  he  re- 
turned to  Neuchatel.  When  he  heard  that  Calvin  was  sick 
and  would  probably  die,  he  went  to  Geneva  with  the 
thought,  "Oh,  that  I  might  die  with  him."  With  tears  and 
prayers,  he  bade  Calvin  a  last  farewell.  But  his  restless 
spirit  would  not  down.  Just  before  his  death  he  went  to 
Metz  to  strengthen  the  Church.  He  preached  with  great 
power,  but  the  effort  was  too  much  for  him.  He  sank  on 
his  couch  after  the  sermon,  and  was  with  great  difficulty 
taken  back  to  Neuchatel.  There  he  died  a  few  weeks  later, 
September  13,  1565. 

Thus  died  the  great  missionary  of  the  Reformation.  In 
season  and  out  of  season  he  was  laboring  for  souls.  His 
life  should  be  an  inspiration  for  missionary  work.  The 
secret  of  his  success  was  that  he  was  a  mighty  man  of 
prayer.      Often   he   would   carry   away   his   hearers    in   his 


FAREL'S    CHARACTER  59 

prayers.  When  his  enemies  came  to  attack  him,  he  some- 
times prayed  them  into  silence.  Placed  on  his  coat  of  arms 
was  the  motto,  "What  would  I  but  that  it  were  kindled." 
He,  under  God's  Spirit,  kindled  a  fire  that  has  never  been 
put  out.  O,  that  God  would  kindle  by  His  Spirit  such  work- 
ers in  the  Church  as  Farel! 


QUESTIONS 

When  did  Haller  first  come  to  Bern  and  what  position 
did  he  have? 

Who  there  early  influenced  him  toward  Protestantism? 

What  did  he  do  at  the  Conference  at  Baden? 

What  difficulties  had  he  to  overcome  at  Bern? 

What  was  the  effect  of  the  Bern  Conference? 

What  does  Haller's  life  teach  us? 

Describe  Bullinger's  birth  and  boyhood. 

Who  were  the  "Brethren  of  the  Common  Life"? 

How  was  he  converted  to  Protestantism? 

When  he  returned  to  Switzerland  what  did  he  do? 

How  did  he  come  to  be  called  as  Zwingli's  successor  at 
Zurich? 

What  were  his  various  activities  in  the  Church? 

What  was  his  kindness  to  Zwingli's  family? 

What  was  the  Tigurine  Confession? 

What  was  his  missionary  interest  in  the  Italian  Re- 
formation? 

What  was  his  missionary  interest  in  the  English  Re- 
formation? 

Describe  his  death. 

What  was  Farel's  significance  among  the  Reformers? 

Where  was  he  born? 

How  was  he  converted  to  Protestantism? 

When  exiled,  where  did  he  go? 

Why  was  he  unable  at  first  to  preach? 


60  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

What  controversy  had  he  with  the  Catholics  at  Mont- 
beliard? 

What  controversy  had  he  with  the  Catholics  at  Aigle? 

Where  did  he  preach  at  Serrieres? 

How  did  he  preach  at  Neuchatel,  and  what  were  its 
results? 

How  did  he  preach  at  Vallengin,  and  what  were  its 
results? 

What  was  his  first  effort  at  Geneva? 

What  did  Froment  do  in  Molard  Square? 

What  was  his  second  effort  at  Geneva? 

Who  providentially  came  to  Geneva  to  help  him? 

Why  were  Farel  and  Calvin  compelled  to  leave  Geneva? 

Where  did  each  go  to? 

Describe  his  preaching  at  Metz  and  vicinity. 

Describe  his  last  days. 

What  lesson  does  he  teach  us  for  missionary  work? 


>  i 


22 


CHAPTER  IV 

Th£  Lii^  and  Work  of  John  Calvin 

I.     Introduction. 

John  Calvin  was  the  greatest  genius  of  the  Reformation. 
The  only  ones  to  dispute  this  place  with  him  are  Luther 
and  Zwingli.  Luther  is  the  popular  hero  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, especially  among  the  Germans,  and  Luther's  greatness 
cannot  be  disputed.  But  it  was  mainly  the  greatness  of  in- 
spiration— that  is,  he  was  able  to  inspire  others.  He  was 
also  a  genius  in  Bible  translation.  Zwingli,  too,  was  a 
scholar,  but  he  died  too  early  to  produce  his  best,  that  is. 
produce  things  in  which  to  scholarship  is  added  the  matured 
ripeness  of  later  life.  Melancthon,  too,  was  a  great  scholar, 
but  his  vacillations  and  his  tendency  to  mediate  detracted 
from  his  greatness.     But  Calvin  was  the  genius  because: 

1.  He  was  the  great  theologian  of  the  Reformation. 
He  sprang  into  fame  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-six,  when 
he  published  his  "Institutes  of  Theology,"  which  was  the 
greatest  dogmatic  work  of  the  Reformation. 

2.  He  was  also  the  greatest  exegete  of  the  Reforma- 
tion,— "the  prince  of  commentators,"  as  Spurgeon  calls  him. 
His  careful,  ripe  judgment,  his  spiritual  insight,  his  acute 
perception  and  his  practical  tact  make  his  commentaries 
valuable  even  to-day. 

3.  He  was  the  greatest  teacher  of  ethics  (or  morality) 
in  the  Reformation.  None  of  the  early  Lutherans  compared 
with  him  in  this  subject,  and  Calvin  was  here  the  greatest 
among  the  Reformed. 

4.  And,  finally,  Calvin  was  the  great  Church  organizer 
of  the  Reformation.     Compared  with  him,  Luther  did  little 

61 


62  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

to  organize  the  Church;  he  left  the  princes  do  that.  As 
a  result  of  this  carelessness  about  organization,  the  Luth- 
eran Church  in  this  country  has  virtually  had  to  reorganize 
itself.  Not  so  Calvin.  He  carefully  laid  the  foundations 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  government  of  the  Reformed. 
It  is  strange  that  Calvin,  who  was  so  theoretic  and  logical, 
should  also  excel  in  such  practical  matters  as  Church 
organization.  It  reveals  the  universal  character  of  his 
mind,  which  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  genius.  The 
great  fault  that  has  been  found  with  Calvin  has  been  his 
lack  of  heart,  his  intellectuality.  He  has  been  charged  with 
being  cold  as  an  icicle.  But  that  judgment  is  now  being 
revised.  Since  his  letters  have  been  published,  they  reveal 
that,  while  Calvin  was  a  man  of  very  large  head,  he  also 
had  a  very  large  heart;  and  Calvin  is  growing  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  world,  as  was  shown  in  the  recent  400th  anni- 
versary of  his  birth  in  1909.  Calvin  would  seem  to  be  more 
of  a  builder-up  of  Churches  already  founded  than  a  mission- 
ary, yet  he  had  a  true  missionary  spirit. 

II.     His  Birth  and  Youth. 

Calvin,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  belongs  to  the  second 
generation  of  the  great  Reformers.  The  first  generation  was 
composed  of  Luther  and  Melancthon,  Zwingli  and  Ecolampa- 
dius;  but  the  last  two  were  dead  before  Calvin  began  his 
work.  He  came  to  complete  what  they  had  begun.  He  was 
a  Frenchman  by  birth,  having  been  born  at  Noyon,  in  north- 
ern France,  July  10,  1509.  He  was  educated  in  the  school 
of  his  birthplace.  His  association  there  with  the  noble  fam- 
ily of  Hangest,  whose  son  Claude  was  his  school-companion, 
gave  to  Calvin  an  acquaintance  with  the  manners  of  polite 
society,  which  later  distinguished  him.  In  order  to  gain 
help  to  educate  his  son,  Calvin's  father  secured  for  him  a 
position  in  the  Church.  In  those  clays  the  Catholic  Church 
some  times  gave  high  positions  even  to  boys.  So  John 
Calvin  was  appointed  chaplain  in  the  cathedral  of  Noyon 
at  the  age  of  twelve.     Of  course,  he  was  not  expected  to 


CALVIN'S    YOUTH  63 

preach.  Some  one  else  was  found  to  perform  his  service 
at  the  altar.  But  he  drew  the  salary.  Six  years  later  he 
added  to  this  position  the  curacy  of  Pont-1-Eveque,  the 
ancestral  home  of  the  Calvins.  We  see  in  all  this  how 
venial  the  Catholic  Church  had  become;  surely  a  reforma- 
tion of  the  Church  was  needed.  But  this  fact  in  Calvin's 
life  reveals  that  he  received  the  tonsure  at  the  age  of 
twelve,  for  otherwise  he  could  not  have  held  this  office. 
And  that  was  the  only  ordination,  it  seems  absolutely  cer- 
tain, that  Calvin  ever  had. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  sent  to  Paris  to  study 
for  the  priesthood.  He  entered  the  College  de  la  Marche, 
and  there  studied  Latin  under  Cordier,  from  whom  he 
gained  his  fine  Latin  style.  Then  he  entered  the  College 
de  Montaigu.  He  was  an  apt  student  and  very  religious, 
so  much  so  that  he  was  a  censor  of  vices  among  his  school- 
mates. The  Reformers  as  yet  had  no  influence  on  him, 
for  his  teacher  at  this  college  was  the  great  opponent  of 
Lefevre  and  his  Evangelical  views.  Calvin  was  still  a  stiff 
papist,  especially  as  he  had  the  priesthood  in  view. 

But  when  he  graduated,  there  came  a  change.  His 
father  insisted  that  he  should  study  law  instead  of  theology. 
So  he  was  sent  to  the  university  of  Orleans  to  study  under 
the  leading  lawyer  of  France,  Prof,  de  P  Estoile.  Here  he 
studied  with  great  diligence.  The  burning  of  the  midnight 
oil  was  his  habit.  By  it  he  greatly  enlarged  his  learning, 
but  also  laid  the  foundations  of  the  ill-health  with  which 
he  was  later  afflicted.  While  studying  law  he  also  empha- 
sized the  classics,  and  in  studying  them  he  came  into  con- 
tact with  a  Protestant  professor,  Melchior  Wolmar,  a  Ger- 
man, who  taught  him  Greek. 

III.     Calvin  Becomes  a  Protestant. 

Biographies  of  Calvin  have  heretofore  held  that  Wol- 
mar was  the  one  who  led  him  to  become  a  Protestant. 
But  later  biographers  tend  to  place  his  conversion  later. 
The    whole    subject    of    Calvin's    conversion    is    somewhat 


64  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

obscure.  However,  he  always  looked  back  with  very  grate- 
ful recollections  to  Wolmar.  Wolmar  removed  from  Orleans 
to  Bourges,  where  Calvin  also  went  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  a 
famous  lecturer  on  law  named  Alciati.  Alciati  so  lectured 
on  law  that  it  was  not  a  mere  matter  of  arbitrary  detail, 
but  he  made  it  concrete  instead  of  abstract,  by  illustrating 
it  from  history  and  literature.  In  the  spring  of  1531  oc- 
curred an  event  that  changed  all  of  Calvin's  plans, — the  death 
of  his  father.  His  father's  death  removed  from  him  the  pres- 
sure to  study  law.  He,  however,  completed  the  law  course 
and  received  his  degree.  And,  though  he  no  longer  fol- 
lowed the  law,  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  legal  studies 
greatly  aided  him  afterward  in  his  professorship  and  in  the 
preparation  of  his  work  on  theology.  Calvin  is  always  a 
logician,  and  he  reveals  his  judicial  balance  of  judgment 
in  his  excellent  interpretations  of  the  Bible  in  his  Com- 
mentaries. 

As  soon  as  he  had  graduated  from  Bourges,  he  went  to 
Paris  to  study  the  classics.  He  there  became  enamored  with 
the  new  humanistic  studies,  and  studied  Greek  and  Hebrew. 
He  also  published  (1532)  his  first  book,  a  commentary  on 
Seneca's  "Treatise  on  Clemency,"  in  which  he  reveals  his 
remarkable  ability  and  precocity.  Written  in  Latin,  its  style 
has  a  peculiar  clearness  and  brilliancy,  and  reveals  the 
lawyer's  grasp  in  its  lucid  presentation  of  the  cogent  argu- 
ment. In  it  he  shows  remarkable  familiarity  with  classic 
writings.  It  looked  as  if  a  new  great  leader  of  humanism 
had  arisen  to  become  the  successor  of  Erasmus  and  Reuch- 
lin,  who  had  been  its  leaders.  But  in  the  book  there  are, 
as  yet,  no  signs  of  Protestantism. 

For  providence  had  marked  out  for  him  a  different 
career,  namely,  that  of  a  Reformer.  The  study  of  the  con- 
version of  a  great  man  is  a  very  interesting  one.  We  have 
watched  Luther's  and  Zwingli's  conversions.  What  was 
Calvin's?  Was  it  of  the  heart  or  of  the  head?  Here  we  come 
upon  a  very  difficult  subject, — one  that  has  caused  much 
discussion.     One  would  expect  that  so  intellectual  a  genius 


CALVIN'S  CONVERSION  65 

would  have  an  intellectual  conversion,  and  doubtless  such 
it  was;  and  yet,  according  to  his  statement,  it  was  a  sud- 
den one.  The  old  view  was  that  Wolmer  led  to  his  con- 
version. It  has  been  suggested  by  so  good  an  authority  as 
Beza,  who  was  Calvin's  biographer  and  successor  at  Geneva, 
that  he  was  converted  through  his  relative,  Olivetan,  who 
urged  him  to  study  the  Bible.  Doubtless  there  was  a  truth 
in  all  these — that  Olivetan  and  Wolmer  influenced  him.  But 
his  later  biographers  place  his  conversion  about  1533.  That 
was  the  year  in  which  the  Reformation  gained  great  promi- 
nence at  Paris,  through  the  patronage  of  Margaret,  the  sister 
of  the  King.  A  letter  of  Calvin's  of  that  date  reveals  his 
great  interest  in  the  religious  discussions  then  going  on. 
He  was  then  on  intimate  terms  with  Roussel,  the  Evan- 
gelical preacher  of  the  Catholics.  In  November,  1533,  there 
occurred  an  event  which  reveals  that  he  had  become  a 
Protestant;  his  friend,  Nicholas  Cop,  the  rector  of  the  uni- 
versity, delivered  an  address,  using  in  it,  it  is  said,  the 
words  of  Calvin.  For  this  he  was  charged  with  Protestant- 
ism, because  he  insisted  on  justifying  faith.  So  Calvin's 
conversion  was  not  later  than  1533.  Calvin  speaks  of  it  in 
one  place  as  sudden,  and  in  another  as  gradual.  His  two 
statements  may  be  harmonized  in  this  way,  that  after  care- 
fully considering  Protestantism  for  a  time,  he  suddenly 
surrendered  himself  to  God. 

IV.     Calvin  a  Wanderer. 

The  address  of  Cop  led  to  Calvin's  threatened  arrest, 
which  he  avoided  by  flight.  Like  Paul,  he  was  let  down 
from  a  window  and  escaped,  carrying  a  hoe  on  his  shoulder 
so  as  to  complete  his  disguise.  Proceedings  against  him 
were,  however,  dropped,  and  he  later  returned  to  Paris. 
But  he  did  not  feel  safe  there,  and  so  found  an  asylum  at 
Angouleme,  about  250  miles  southwest  of  Paris,  with  his 
friend,  Louis  du  Tillet.  The  fine  library  of  Du  Tillet  was 
of  great  assistance  in  preparing  him  to  write  his  "Insti- 
tutes  of  Theology."     On   March   4,   1534,   he   went  back  to 


G6  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

Noyon,  and  resigned  all  his  offices  in  the  Catholic  Church. 
This  meant  his  final  break  with  Catholicism.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  learn  that  he  was  imprisoned  there  twice  "for  uproar 
made  in  the  Church  on  the  eve  of  Holy  Trinity."  Whether 
that  "uproar"  was  his  public  protest  against  the  papal 
errors,  we  do  not  know,  but  this  imprisonment  was  the 
beginning  of  many  persecutions  which  finally  compelled 
him  to  leave  his  native  land.  He  returned  to  Paris  for  a 
short  time,  and  then  went  to  Poitiers.*  At  Poitiers  he 
revealed  his  home  missionary  spirit.  For,  finding  a  number 
of  persons  who  were  Reformed,  he  held  religious  conferences 
with  them.  He  then  took  the  next  important  step  after 
his  conversion.  In  a  cave  outside  of  the  city  he  secretly 
celebrated  the  Lord's  Supper  with  them.  In  thus  giving  the 
Lord's  Supper,  Calvin  took  his  place  as  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel.  He  thus  shows  his  missionary  spirit  here  by  organ- 
izing a  congregation. 

Then  he  went  to  Orleans,  where  he  wrote  the  preface 
to  his  next  work  on  "The  Sleep  of  Souls."  It  was  a  work 
written  against  the  Anabaptists.**  This  book  revealed  that 
Calvin  felt  he  was  not  only  called  to  be  a  minister,  but  a 
teacher,  as  in  this  book  he  teaches  against  heresy. 

V.     Calvin  in  Exile. 

But  it  became  too  dangerous  for  him  to  remain  in 
France.  By  the  end  of  1534  the  placards  against  the  mass 
were  posted  up  all  over  France.  This  greatly  angered 
the  Catholics.  So  he  fled  and  arrived  at  Strassburg  in 
Germany  at  the  beginning  of  1535.     From  this  time  he  was 

*  The  order  of  his  stay  in  these  different  places,  Angou- 
leme,  Poitiers  and  Orleans,  seems  to  be  somewhat  uncertain. 

**  The  Anabaptists  were  those  in  the  Reformation  who 
denied  infant  baptism.  Many  of  them  were  excellent  peo- 
ple, but  some  were  fanatics  and  heretics.  They  differed 
from  our  Baptists  because  they  did  not  require  immersion 
as  a  necessity. 


CALVIN'S    "INSTITUTES"  67 

an  exile  from  his  native  land.  He  then  went  to  Basle, 
where  he  published  his  famous  "Institutes  of  Theology." 
This  book  reveals  him  as  a  theological  genius.  It  was  the 
greatest  work  on  dogmatic  theology  produced  during  the 
Reformation,  and  yet  it  sprang  from  the  brain  of  a  young 
man  only  twenty-six  years  of  age.  His  preface  to  it, 
which  is  dedicated  to  the  king  of  France,  was  a  master- 
piece of  apologetic  literature.  He  dedicated  it  to  the 
king  in  the  hope  that  it  might  lead  him  to  lessen  his 
persecutions  against  the  Protestants.  The  charge  had 
been  made  by  the  Catholics  against  the  Protestants  that 
Protestantism  was  destructive,  not  constructive.  Calvin 
replied  to  this  by  showing  in  his  "Institutes"  that  it  was 
constructive.  It  contained  a  whole  system  of  theology 
based,  however,  on  the  Bible,  and  not  on  the  Church,  as  in 
Catholicism.  But  its  first  edition  was  briefer  than  the  later 
editions  and  was  not  so  sharply  Calvinistic  on  predestina- 
tion and  other  doctrines.  The  work  was  the  completed 
fruit  of  his  conversion.  It  gave  him  great  fame  among 
the  Protestants  of  that  day. 

VI.     Calvin  in  Italy. 

Calvin,  having  published  his  "Institutes,"  set  out  on  an 
evangelistic  expedition  to  Italy,  to  visit  Princess  Renee  of 
Este,  the  daughter  of  the  late  king  of  Prance,  but  who 
favored  the  Reformed.  At  her  palace  in  Ferrara,  he  found 
a  circle  of  kindred  spirits.  But  he  was  not  permitted  to 
stay  long,  for  one  of  these  Protestants,  a  young  singer 
named  Jehanet,  at  one  of  the  services  walked  out  of  the 
Church  as  his  protest  against  the  adoration  of  the  cross 
in  the  mass.  The  Catholics  brought  charges  against  him, 
which  led  to  an  investigation,  and  the  Protestants  there 
were  discovered  and  compelled  to  flee.  Calvin  fled  to 
Switzerland.  There  is  a  very  curious  cross  at  Aosta  in 
northwestern  Italy  on  the  border  of  Switzerland,  called 
"Calvin's  Cross."  There  have  been  a  great  many  things 
and   places   named   after   Calvin   because   he   visited   them 


68  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

during  his  life,  but  this  is  the  only  one  erected  to  his 
memory  by  the  Catholics.  It  seems  strange  that  they 
would  erect  this  to  the  memory  of  the  man  they  hated. 
It  seems  that  Calvin  came  to  Aosta,  which  is  at  the  south- 
ern end  of  the  great  St.  Bernard  Pass,  and  there  found 
some  secret  Protestants.  The  Catholics  learned  of  his 
presence  and  brought  charges  against  him,  so  he  had  to 
flee.  And  while  they  guarded  the  great  St.  Bernard  Pass 
(famous  for  its  dogs)  he,  aided  by  his  friends,  escaped 
over  the  neighboring,  but  very  dangerous  pass,  named  the 
Col  de  Fenetre,  and  arrived  safely  at  Switzerland.  The 
Catholics  seemed  to  have  been  so  glad  that  they  had  rid 
their  neighborhood  of  such  a  heretic  that  a  few  years 
later  they  erected  this  cross.  There  it  stands  to-day,  and 
right  opposite  to  it  is  the  Waldensian  Church  which 
preaches  the  Gospel  of  Calvin. 

Calvin  went  from  Switzerland  back  to  France,  for  the 
king  seemed  at  that  time  to  be  more  favorable  to  Protest- 
ants, as  he  even  invited  Melancthon  to  visit  his  court.  He 
also  went  back  so  as  to  arrange  his  few  business  interests 
that  he  might  leave  France  and  settle  in  a  foreign  land. 
He  also  brought  his  brother  and  sister  away  with  him. 
Then  he  started  for  Germany.  But  in  order  to  get  there  he 
had,  on  account  of  a  war,  to  make  a  long  detour  south- 
ward by  way  of  Lyons  and  Geneva.  He  arrived  at  Geneva 
in  the  latter  part  of  July,  1536. 

VII.     FareVs  Call  to  Calvin. 

One  of  the  most  dramatic  scenes  in  the  history  of  the 
Reformed  Church  was  Farel's  call  to  Calvin.  Calvin  came 
to  Geneva  expecting  to  spend  a  night  there.  Instead,  he 
spent  most  of  his  life  there  and  became  the  great  Reformer 
of  Geneva.  Farel,  when  he  heard  that  Calvin  was  at 
Geneva,  called  at  his  hotel  and  begged  him  to  stay.  Calvin 
demurred.  He  said  he  was  a  student  and  was  not  made 
of  the  stuff  to  be  a  Reformer.  He  declared  that  he  wanted 
to  go  to  Germany  to  study.     Farel  persisted  in  his  appeal, 


CALVIN    AT    GENEVA  69 

but  when  he  saw  that  Calvin  was  not  inclined  to  yield, 
he  reminded  him  of  the  punishment  that  came  to  Jonah 
when  he  ran  away  from  duty.  But  still  Calvin  refused. 
Finally  Farel,  his  mighty  spirit  rising  within  him  at  the 
sense  of  the  great  need  of  helpers  at  Geneva,  rose  from 
his  chair,  and  laying  his  hands  on  Calvin,  said  with  his 
voice  of  thunder,  "May  God  curse  your  studies,  if  in  our 
great  need  you  do  not  come  to  our  help."  Calvin  was 
awed;  he  trembled  like  a  leaf;  he  asked  to  be  permitted 
to  think  and  pray  over  the  matter  until  morning.  In  the 
morning  he  surrendered  and  decided  to  stay.  He  thus 
became  Geneva's  great  Reformer,  and  made  that  city,  even 
according  to  the  testimony  of  so  strict  a  Lutheran  as 
Andrea,  the  model  city  of  that  age. 

VIII.     Calvin  at  Geneva. 

Calvin  began  his  work  at  Geneva  without  any  salary, 
but  by  the  following  February  a  small  salary  was  voted  to 
him.  He  at  once  began  lectures  on  the  Epistles  of  Paul, 
but  it  took  Geneva  some  time  to  realize  what  a  prize  she 
had  gotten  in  him.  He  had  hardly  settled  there  when  in 
October,  1536,  he,  together  with  Farel,  went  to  Lausanne, 
where  Viret  was  trying  to  introduce  the  Gospel.  To  do 
this  a  disputation  between  Catholics  and  Protestants  was 
held.  At  this  disputation  Calvin  gained  great  fame  by  the 
masterly  way  in  which  he  refuted  the  doctrine  of  trans- 
substantiation  from  the  Church  Fathers,  so  as  to  com- 
pletely silence  the  priests.  After  his  return  to  Geneva  he 
prepared  a  Catechism  and  a  Confession  of  Faith  for  that 
city.  He  also  began  the  more  difficult  task  of  preparing 
its  ordinances,  so  as  to  make  it  a  Protestant  city.  But 
when  his  very  strict  laws  were  attempted  to  be  enforced, 
the  looser  element,  called  the  Libertines,  reacted  against 
him;  and  taking  advantage  of  a  slight  difference  between 
Calvin  and  the  Bernese  in  regard  to  Church  discipline  and 
the  use  of  bread  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  they  produced  a 
situation   that   compelled   Calvin   and    Farel   to   resign,   be- 


70  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

cause   they   refused   to    administer   the    communion   as   or- 
dered.    They  were  dismisesd  April  23,  1538. 

IX.     Calvin  at  Strassburg. 

Calvin  was  invited  by  Bucer  to  come  to  Strassburg  as 
pastor  of  the  French  Reformed  Church,  so  as  to  gather 
the  French  into  a  congregation.  He  proceeded  to  organ- 
ize this  congregation  just  as  any  home  missionary  would 
do  to-day.  His  stay  of  three  years  at  Strassburg  was 
destined  to  be  of  great  value  to  him  and  the  Reformed 
Church.  Thus  he  was  able,  in  his  congregation,  to 
carry  out  his  idea  of  church  government,  as  he  had  not 
been  able  to  do  at  Geneva.  He  also  began  lecturing  on 
the  Bible,  and  it  is  likely  that  his  "Commentary  on  Ro- 
mans" was  given  there  in  the  form  of  lectures.  Here,  too. 
he  rewrote  his  "Institutes  of  Theology"  into  the  form  in 
which  they  now  are,  though  somewhat  revised  before  his 
death.  He  made  them  more  sharply  Calvinistic,  especially 
on  the  doctrine  of  election.  At  Strassburg,  too,  he  formu- 
lated his  method  of  worship,  which  was  mainly  a  transla- 
tion of  what  was  used  by  Bucer,  though  arranged  for  Bucer 
and  the  Strassburg  Church  by  Diebold  Swartz,  a  minister 
of  Strassburg.  In  his  services  he  made  prominent  the  use 
of  the  psalms  and  of  singing,  which  Zwingli  had  not  done. 
Here  he  was  married  to  Idelette  de  Bure,  by  whom  lie 
had  a  son  who  died  soon  after  birth.  But  most  important 
during  his  stay  here  was  his  association  with  the  Reformers 
of  Germany,  for  he  learned  their  viewpoint.  Three  im- 
portant Conferences  were  held  at  that  period  to  reunite 
the  Catholics  and  Protestants,  at  Hagenau,  Worms  and 
Ratisbon.  In  the  latter,  Calvin  took  a  prominent  part. 
Fortunate  was  it  for  Protestantism  that  he  was  there,  for 
the  yielding  Melancthon  was  apt  to  concede  too  much  to 
the  Catholics.  But  the  Conferences  brought  no  practical 
results,  except  that  in  them  Melancthon  and  Calvin,  in  spite 
of  their  differences  of  character  and  views,  became  fasl 
friends  for  the  rest  of  their  lives.     His  missionary  spirit 


THE   RECALL   OF   CALVIN  71 

shows  itself  then  in  trying  to  convert  the  Anabaptists  and 
gain  them  for  the  Church. 

X.     Calvin  Recalled  to  Geneva. 

Meanwhile  affairs  at  Geneva  were  going  from  bad  to 
worse,  until  the  city  approached  Calvin  about  coming  back. 
It  was,  however,  a  difficult  thing  to  get  him  to  do  so 
after  the  unkind  treatment  that  he  had  received.  For  he 
had  declared  to  Farel,  that  he  would  rather  suffer  "a 
hundred  other  deaths  than  that  cross."  But  Farel  pressed 
him  to  return,  and  finally  after  months  of  negotiation,  he 
returned  to  Geneva,  September  13,  1541.  He  received  a 
salary  of  about  $1000,  which  was  a  great  relief  after  his 
poverty  at  Strassburg.  He  now  had  things  his  own  way, 
for  his  friends  were  in  control  of  the  city  council.  He 
drew  up  ordinances  which  were  adopted,  and  which  thor- 
oughly organized  the  city  both  religiously  and  morally. 
In  them  appeared  the  germ  of  the  Presbyterial  form  of 
government,  in  which  the  laity  were  represented  in  the 
consistory  as  well  as  the  ministers.  The  germ  of  the 
Presbyterial  government  is  representation — the  elders  rep- 
resenting the  congregation.  It  also  contained  the  germ 
of  the  separation  of  church  and  state,  for  the  consistory 
was  granted  the  power  of  excommunicating  members.  This 
gave  to  the  Church  a  power  that  did  not  belong  to  the 
State.  This  was  in  contrast  with  the  Zwinglian  form  of 
government,  in  which  the  punishment  of  offenders  in  the 
church  was  given  to  the  state  who  imprisoned  and  punished 
them.  We  say  this  was  the  germ  of  the  separation  of 
church  and  state,  for  there  was,  as  yet,  no  complete 
separation  of  the  church  and  state  as  we  have  it  in 
America.  The  beginning  of  religious  liberty  in  Protestant- 
ism was  not  at  Geneva  under  Calvin,  but  in  the  eastern 
canton  of  Switzerland,  the  Grisons,  where  in  1526,  at  Ilanz, 
Catholics  and  Protestants  mutually  agreed  to  respect  each 
other's  rights.  That  was  about  a  century  before  the  Pil- 
grims  claimed   to   have   brought  religious    liberty   to    Ply- 


72  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

mouth  Rock.  But  the  Pilgrims,  from  what  source  did  they 
get  religious  liberty?  Not  from  England,  their  home,  for 
there  was  none  there;  but  from  the  Reformed  in  Holland, 
from  which  country  they  sailed  to  America.  Calvin,  in 
these  theocratic  regulations,  tried  to  make  God  the  Ruler 
in  Geneva — to  make  all  government  but  the  expression  of 
th  Will  of  God.  His  ordinances  were  very  severe  against 
dancing,  gambling,  drunkenness,  profanity,  and  any  licenti- 
ousness in  dress,  word  or  act.  The  reading  of  bad  books 
was  prohibited.  They  even  went  so  far  as  to  prescribe  the 
number  of  dishes  to  be  served  at  a  meal.  These  things 
seemed  severe,  but  they  made  Geneva  the  model  city 
of  Europe. 

Gradually,  however,  the  leaders  of  Calvin's  party 
died  off  and  the  dissatisfaction  with  such  strict  laws  in- 
creased, until  a  considerable  party  was  formed  against 
Calvin.  In  1547  a  number  of  his  opponents  were  elected 
to  office.  At  the  election  of  1548,  the  parties  were  evenly 
divided.  Meanwhile  Calvin's  life  was  made  very  un- 
pleasant. His  enemies  nicknamed  him  Cain;  they  named 
their  dogs  after  him;  placards  were  posted  up  criticizing 
him  and  ballads  were  sung  ridiculing  him.  It  is  true  the 
perpetrators  were  often  punished,  but  these  things  made 
Calvin's  life  unhappy.  Once  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  when 
unworthy  Libertines  were  coming  forward  to  take  the  ele- 
ments without  his  permission,  Calvin  flung  his  arms 
around  the  sacramental  vessels  as  he  said:  "These  hands 
you  may  crush,  these  arms  you  may  lop  off;  my  life  you 
may  take;  but  you  shall  never  force  me  to  give  holy 
things  to  the  profane."  Indeed,  during  these  conflicts  his 
life  was  at  times  in  danger.  One  night  fifty  shots  were 
fired  before  his  bed-chamber.  On  another  occasion  he  met 
a  number  of  his  opponents  who  were  armed.  Baring  his 
bosom,  he  said,  "You  want  to  kill  me,  here  is  my  breast." 
But  his  martyr-spirit  and  courage  so  awed  these  opponents 
that  they  made  no  attempt.  At  the  next  election.  Febru- 
ary,   1549,    his    arch-enemy,    Perrin,    was    elected    as    first 


CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS  73 

syndic,  or  head  of  the  government.  In  the  midst  of  these 
struggles  and  trials,  his  wife  died,  March  29,  1549.  His 
own  health  was  uncertain,  due  to  his  anxieties,  and  in- 
creasing nervous  headaches.  The  two  parties  continued 
evenly  divided  until  1553,  when  Calvin's  opponents  gained 
control. 

XL     Calvin  and  Servetus. 

It  was  just  at  this  critical  time  that  there  came  to 
Geneva  a  man  whom  Calvin  looked  upon  as  an  arch-heretic, 
Michael  Servetus,  a  Spaniard  by  birth.  He  had  published 
in  1531  a  work  against  the  Trinity;  as  a  result  he  was  a 
wanderer,  driven  hither  and  thither.  In  1553  he  published 
a  work,  "The  Restitution  of  Christianity,"  which  was  pan- 
theistic and  denied  the  full  deity  of  Jesus.  He  was  con- 
demned at  Vienne,  France,  1553,  but  escaped  and  came 
to  Geneva  just  when  Calvin's  opponents  were  in  control. 
At  Calvin's  instigation  he  was  arrested.  His  opponents  in 
the  government  took  hold  of  the  case,  hoping  by  it  to  dis- 
credit Calvin.  At  the  examination  Calvin  pressed  Servetus 
about  his  pantheistic  ideas,  that  if  God  was  everything 
and  everything,  God,  as  Servetus  said,  "then  the  very 
floor  and  benches  of  the  room  in  which  they  were,  were 
the  substance  of  God,"  and  Calvin  went  further  and  said, 
"then  the  devil  is,  in  substance,  God."  To  which  Servetus 
replied,  with  a  laugh,  "Do  you  doubt  it?"  This  reveals 
the  flippant  as  well  as  .heretical  character  of  Servetus. 

The  result  was  that  the  Council  ordered  Servetus  to 
be  burned  alive.  Calvin  sought  a  milder  form  of  death, 
but  Servetus  was  burned,  October  27,  1553.  The  burning 
of  Servetus  has  prejudiced  the  world  against  Calvin.  But 
we  believe  the  odium  attached  to  him  is  excessive  and 
largely  unjust.  Of  course,  in  the  light  of  our  twentieth 
century,  it  cannot  be  defended,  but  we  must  judge  Calvin 
by  the  sixteenth  century  and  not  by  the  twentieth.  It  is 
to  be  remembered,  too,  that  the  law  that  led  to  Servetus'  con- 
demnation   was    based    on    Catholic    jurisprudence    of    the 


74  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

time  before  Calvin,  and  in  its  day  heresy  was  everywhere 
punished  with  death.  The  Catholics  had  treated  it  as 
treason,  for  they  held  that  the  church  and  state  were 
united,  and  therefore,  heresy  to  the  church  was  treason  to 
the  state,  and  so  punishable  with  death.  This  law  con- 
tinued in  existence  until  the  seventeenth  century.  Calvin 
was  not  directly  responsible  for  his  burning,  for  the  city 
council  that  ordered  it  was  led  by  Calvin's  opponents, 
who  had  been  trying  to  use  the  trial  against  Calvin.  And 
the  burning  of  Servetus  was  not  only  due  to  the  law  of 
that  day,  but  to  the  spirit  of  the  times.  All  the  Reformers 
approved  it,  even  the  mild  Melancthon.  It  must  also  be 
remembered  that  such  acts  were  done  by  all  in  that  day. 
The  Catholics  put  Protestants  to  death  for  heresy.  The 
Episcopalians  in  England  did  the  same  to  the  Catholics. 
The  Lutherans  did  the  same  to  the  Anabaptists — indeed, 
they  put  one  of  the  Reformed,  Crell,  the  chancellor  of 
Saxony,  to  death  at  Dresden  near  the  end  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  for  his  faith.  And  so  here  the  Reformed 
did  it  too.  It  was  due  to  the  spirit  of  the  times.  But  we 
do  not  believe  it  is  right  to  lay  the  fault  of  a  whole  age 
on  one  man,  as  has  been  done  to  Calvin.  We  regret  the 
event,  but  the  Lutherans  and  Episcopalians  all  were  also 
blameworthy.  And  we  believe  that  if  Calvin  had  lived  in  the 
light  of  this  century,  he  would  not  have  approved  it,  espe- 
cially if  he  had  seen  that  our  religious  liberty  is  largely 
the  outgrowth  of  his  work  at  Geneva, 

But  after  1553  the  tide  in  the  city  government  began 
to  turn  toward  Calvin.  In  1555  an  event  occurred  that  led 
to  the  arrest  of  Perrin  and  others  of  his  party,  on  the 
charge  of  treason.  They  were  executed.  This  loss  of 
leaders  to  his  enemies  placed  Calvin  in  supreme  control 
of  the  situation  in  Geneva,  and  he  held  it  until  his  death. 
This  gave  him  relief  from  opposition  for  the  rest  of  his 
life.  It  enabled  him  to  complete  the  work  at  Geneva. 
It  also  gave  him  liberty  to  do  more  for  the  Church  at 
large.      For   while   Geneva   was   his   abode,   his   heart   was 


REFORMED   MISSION   TO   BRAZIL  75 

with  the  Church  of  Christ  everywhere. 

XII.     The  French  Mission  in  Brazil.* 

And  now  occurs  an  event  in  connection  with  Calvin 
and  his  church  that  has  received  little  attention,  but  is 
of  great  importance  in  a  missionary  manual  like  this.  We 
have  seen  how  the  Reformation  was  a  great  home  mis- 
sionary revival,  as  everywhere  the  Reformers  and  other 
Protestants  tried  to  convert  souls  to  their  Gospel.  We 
now  take  up  the  Reformation  work  among  the  heathen. 
Protestantism  had  hardly  been  born  before  it  became  mis- 
sionary. We  have  already  noted  how  Professor  Bibliander, 
of  Zurich,  wanted  to  go  as  a  missionary  to  the  Mo- 
hammedans. In  1557  the  Church  of  Geneva  founded  the  first 
foreign  mission  of  the  Protestants  in  Brazil,  one  year  be- 
fore the  Lutherans  founded  their  first  foreign  mission  in 
Lapland. 

In  1555  a  colony  of  Frenchmen,  under  Admiral  Ville- 
gagnon,  went  from  France  and  located  on  an  island  in 
the  harbor  of  Rio  Janeiro,  Brazil.  Admiral  Coligny  fos- 
tered the  expedition  and  Villegagnon  professed  to  be  a 
Protestant.  After  they  arrived  at  Rio  Janeiro,  Villegagnon 
wrote  back  to  Calvin  to  send  ministers.  The  letter  came 
to  Geneva  when  Calvin  was  away  at  Frankford,  Germany; 
but  Calvin's  missionary  spirit  had  permeated  his  church 
and  they  took  action  in  his  absence.  They  appointed  two 
ministers  to  go  to  Brazil,  Peter  Richer  and  William 
Chartier.  These,  together  with  a  number  of  Genevese, 
went  out  with  the  next  expedition  from  France  and  arrived 
in  Brazil  March  9,  1557.  Among  the  Genevese  were  sev- 
eral young  men  who  were  sent  out  to  be  especially  trained 
for  missionary  work  among  the  natives,  among  them  De- 
Lery,  a  student  of  theology,  who  afterwards  wrote  the 
history  of  the  expedition  and  described  their  efforts  to 
preach  to  the  natives. 

*  See  Good,  "History  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the 
United  States,"  pages  3-11. 


76  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

After  they  had  arrived  at  Brazil,  Villegagnon  was  at 
first  very  friendly  and  supported  their  religious  services, 
but  soon  he  began  to  criticise  and  then  to  quarrel  with 
them,  especially  about  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  truth  was 
that  the  Catholics  had  sent  an  emissary  in  the  last  expedi- 
tion, who  was  winning  Villegagnon  back  to  Catholicism. 
Finally  matters  came  to  an  open  breach  between  Ville- 
gagnon and  the  ministers,  so  Chartier  returned  to  France 
to  get  the  judgment  of  the  churches  on  the  matters  in 
controversy.  Meanwhile  the  quarrel  became  so  great  that 
the  Genevese,  with  Richer,  left  the  island  on  which  Ville- 
gagnon had  his  fort  and  went  to  the  mainland  to  live 
among  the  natives,  where  DeLery  and  the  other  young 
men,  who  were  to  be  missionaries,  were  already  living. 
The  natives  gladly  received  them.  DeLery  and  the  others 
tried  to  preach  to  the  natives,  but  accomplished  little 
because  their  stay  was  so  short.  Nevertheless  it  was  the 
first  attempt  to  reach  the  heathen  by  the  Protestants. 
Soon  after  this,  Richer  and  his  party  went  back  to  France; 
so  the  missionary  effort  ended.  On  their  return  to  France 
they  were  in  the  greatest  danger.  The  vessel  proved  un- 
seaworthy;  fire  threatened  them,  and  starvation  came  on 
them,  until  just  before  they  came  in  sight  of  France,  they 
were  about  to  draw  lots  as  to  who  should  be  killed  for 
food.  A  few  years  later  Villegagnon  returned  to  France 
and  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  in  bitter  controversy  against 
Calvin  and  the  Protestants. 

We  have  said  that  this  was  the  first  Protestant  for- 
eign mission.  It  also  gave  the  first  martyrs  for  Protestant 
missions.  For  when  the  vessel,  on  which  Richer  and  the 
rest  were  returning,  had  been  out  at  sea  a  few  days,  the 
captain  offered  a  boat  to  any  who  were  afraid  to  continue 
the  voyage  on  account  of  the  danger.  Five  of  them  went 
in  the  boat  to  land,  and  lived  at  first  with  the  natives. 
Four  of  them  found  their  way  back  to  Villegagnon,  but 
he  arrested  them  as  spies  and  put  three  of  them  to  death. 
One   of  them,   John   Boles,   did   not  return   to  Villegagnon, 


CALVIN'S  LAST  YEARS  77 

but  continued  living  with  the  natives.  He  preached  Prot- 
estantism to  them  with  such  power  and  influence  that  the 
Jesuits  finally  became  alarmed  at  his  success.  They  had 
him  arrested  and  put  to  death.  Thus  the  Reformed  were 
the  first  to  establish  Protestant  missions  and  also  to  have 
the  first  missionary  martyrs  for  Protestantism. 

XIII.     Calvin's  Last  Years. 

Calvin,  in  1559,  was  able  to  complete  the  school  system 
of  Geneva  by  founding  the  Theological  Academy,  out  of 
which  has  grown  the  present  university  of  Geneva.  The 
building,  which  was  opened  June  5,  1559,  is  still  used  as 
a  theological  school,  and  has  over  its  door  the  motto  in 
Latin,  "After  darkness,  light."  To  this  school  came  stu- 
dents from  every  Protestant  land,  and  it  became  a  great 
educational  centre.  It  completed  Calvin's  ideal  of  a  Christ- 
ian commonwealth,  for  to  pure  preaching  and  morals  was 
added  religious  education.  But  after  1558  his  health  de- 
clined. On  February  2,  1564,  he  delivered  his  last  lecture 
in  the  Academy,  and  he  was  carried  to  the  April  com- 
munion in  a  chair.  On  April  27th  the  council  of  Geneva 
went  in  a  body  to  his  bedside  to  express  their  sympathy 
and  appreciation  for  his  great  service  to  the  city.  He 
expressed  his  gratification  at  their  coming  and  exhorted 
them  to  be  faithful  to  their  city.  The  next  day  the  min- 
isters of  Geneva  came  in  a  body.  He  spoke  briefly  to  them 
in  a  reminiscent  way,  and  yet  his  address  reveals  great 
humility,  and  a  great  desire  to  exalt  God.  He  died  on 
Saturday  evening,  May  27,  1564.  He  left  a  request  that  no 
monument  should  be  erected  to  his  memory,  but  there  is 
in  the  cemetery  at  Geneva  a  plain  stone  with  the  letters 
"J.  C."  marked  on  it,  which,  it  is  said,  marks  his  grave. 
But  though  no  monument  was  then  erected  there,  his  monu- 
ment is  the  Reformed  Church  that  he  organized,  whose 
members  are  now  found  in  every  part  of  the  world.  The 
Reformed  and  Presbyterian  churches,  now  numbering  about 
thirty  millions,  are  his  direct  descendants;   in  fact,  all  the 


78  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

other    Protestant    churches,    except    the    Lutheran,    are    in- 
directly the  result  of  his  work. 

XIV.     Calvin's  Theology. 

This  is  a  large  subject,  of  which  only  the  briefest 
outline  can  be  given  here.     He  held  to 

1.  The  Supremacy  of  Scripture.  The  Bible  was  the 
infallible  and  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  duty.  Where  does 
Scripture  get  its  authority?  The  Romanists  said,  "From 
the  Church."  "No,"  said  Calvin,  from  "the  testimony  of 
the  Holy  Spirit."  This  was  the  self-evidencing  power  of 
the  Bible  to  us. — the  appeal  that  its  truths  made  to  us,  for 
we  feel  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  to  us  through  it  as 
through  no  other  book.  This,  however,  differs  from  the 
modern  view  which  makes  the  authority  of  Scripture  de- 
pend on  our  religious  experience  of  it.  Calvin  made  its 
authority  depend  on  the  Bible  itself  as  objective  to  us, 
but  proving  itself  by  its  own  appeal  to  us.  Not  our 
answer  to  Scripture  (as  according  to  the  modern  view), 
but  Scripture's  appeal  to  us  gives  it  its  authority. 

2.  Predestination.  This  was  the  eternal  decree  of  God, 
by  which  he  determined  in  himself  the  destiny  of  every 
man;  in  his  plan  Christ  died  for  the  elect.  Not  all  of  the 
Reformed  fully  accepted  Calvin's  views,  though  some  seem 
to  go  higher  than  he.  Historically,  there  have  been 
three  kinds  of  Calvinism — supralapsarianism,  infralapsar- 
ianism,  and  sublapsarianism.  It  has  been  a  question  to 
which  of  the  first  two  Calvin  belonged,  and  his  successor, 
Beza,  and  the  scholastic  Calvinists  went  higher  than  he. 
Infralapsarianism  is  now  held  by  what  we  know  as  the 
Federal  school.  But  many  Calvinists  have  held  to  sub- 
lapsarianism, which  is  a  lower  form.  Zwingli,  Bullinger 
and  Lasco  held  to  it.  According  to  it,  Christ  died  not  only 
for  the  elect,  but  for  all  men.  It  emphasizes  redemption  in 
Christ  rather  than  God's  eternal  decree,  and  election  is 
redemptive  not  metaphysical. 

3.  The  Lord's  Supper.    Here  Calvin  occupied  a  middle 


CALVIN'S  DOCTRINES  AND  WORK  79 

ground  between  the  memorial  view  and  the  Lutheran. 
Over  against  the  Lutheran  he  denied  the  bodily  presence 
of  Christ  at  the  Lord's  table — Christ's  body,  he  held,  was 
in  heaven.  On  the  other  hand  he  held  that  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  more  than  a  memorial — that  there  was  a  real 
presence  of  Christ  in  it,  but  a  spiritual  one.  Hence,  his 
view  of  the  Lord's  Supper  has  been  called  the  spiritual 
view.  He  also  emphasized  the  subjective  and  refused  to 
give  objective  efficacy  to  the  bread  and  wine.  Faith  was 
necessary  in  order  for  sacramental  efficacy.  This  sub- 
jectivity is  shown  in  most  of  the  Calvinistic  liturgies, 
which  require  us  by  faith  to  lift  our  minds  from  the  bread 
and  wine  up  to  heaven  where  Christ  is,  and  thus  com- 
mune with  him  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  unites  Him 
and  us. 

XV.     Calvin's  Missionary  Work. 

Calvin  was  a  city  missionary  as  truly  as  any  city  mis- 
sionary, who  to-day  is  laboring  to  save  any  of  our  cities. 
He  stands  out  as  the  typical  city  reformer,  both  in  morals 
and  religion.  Would  that  we  had  some  Calvin  to  clean 
up  our  'cities  of  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  other  cities 
of  our  land,  instead  of  the  superficial,  non-religious  re- 
formers we  have  to-day.  But  Calvin  was  also  a  foreign 
missionary;  that  is,  laboring  to  save  other  lands.  This 
he  did  through  his  enormous  correspondence,  much  of 
which  is  soul-saving  in  its  aim.  This  correspondence  ex- 
tended all  over  Europe.  What  has  come  down  to  us  fills 
ten  quarto  volumes.  The  number  of  letters  from,  to  and 
about  Calvin  numbers  4,271,  and  they  are  directed  to  no 
less  than  307  persons  and  organizations.  Many  of  these 
letters  were  intended  to  aid  in  introducing  the  Evangelical 
Gospel  into  new  places  or  to  new  persons,  or  else  to  guide 
those  who  were  doing  missionary  work.  How  anxious  do 
his  letters  reveal  him  about  the  evangelization  of  England 
and  Scotland  and  Poland.  To  aid  this  evangelization  he 
dedicated    some    of    his    works    to    the    crowned    heads    of 


80  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

Europe,  hoping  to  make  them  more  favorable  to  the  Gospel. 
Indeed,  sometimes  he  was  too  aggressive  here,  and  he 
would  dedicate  books  to  those,  to  whom  this  would  prove 
dangerous.  Thus  he  dedicated  one  of  his  Commentaries 
to  Elector  Frederick  III  of  the  Palatine,  who,  though  a 
Lutheran,  he  heard  was  inclining  to  be  friendly  to  the 
Reformed.  Fortunately  for  Frederick,  he  never  read  the 
book  or  his  case  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  1566,  about  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism  would  have  gone  against  him.  But 
this  reveals  Calvin's  earnest  spirit  in  spreading  the  Re- 
formed faith. 

So  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  of  overwork,  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  men  of  history.  He  had  his  faults,  and  no 
one  was  more  conscious  of  them  than  himself.  But  he 
had  tremendous  faith  in  God  and  he  did  everything  from 
the  standpoint  of  obedience  to  God's  will.  His  motto,  "My 
bleeding  heart  I  yield  to  thee  quickly  and  entirely,"  de- 
serves to  be  the  motto  of  every  one  of  his  followers. 


QUESTIONS 

What  position  does  Calvin  hold  among  the  Reformers? 

In  what  four  things  did  Calvin  excel  as  a  Reformer? 

Where  was  he  born  and  when? 

To  what  position  was  he  appointed  as  a  boy? 

Describe  his  education. 

Why  did  he  change  from  studying  for  the. priesthood 
to  the  law? 

How  did  his  legal  education  help  him  afterwards  as 
a  Reformer? 

Before  his  conversion,  what  was  he? 

When  and  how  was  he  converted? 

What  did  he  do  at  Angouleme  and  Poitiers? 

When  did  he  leave  France  and  why? 

Where  did  he  go  to? 

What  were  his  "Institutes  of  Theology"? 

Describe  his  visit  in  Italy? 


QUESTIONS  81 

What  occurred  at  Aosta? 

What  was  Farel's  call  to  him  to  become  the  Reformer 
of  Geneva? 

What  changes  did  he  make  at  Geneva? 

What  caused  his  departure  from  Geneva? 

Where  did  he  go  to? 

What  did  he  do  at  Strassburg? 

What  effect  did  his  stay  at  Strassburg  have  upon  him? 

What  great  Lutheran  Reformer  did  he  meet  in  Ger- 
many? 

Why  was  he  recalled  to  Geneva? 

What  rules  did  he  lay  down  for  the  city? 

Where  was  there  the  first  religious  liberty  in  the 
Reformation? 

Where  did  the  Pilgrims,  who  came  over  in  the  May- 
flower,  get  their  ideas  of  religious   liberty? 

What  opposition  rose  against  Calvin  at  Geneva? 

What  other  trials  came  to  him  then? 

What  dangers  came  to  him  in  Geneva? 

Who  was  Servetus? 

Who  tried  and  put  Servetus  to  death? 

What  mitigates  our  judgment  of  the  burning  of  Ser- 
vetus ? 

How  did  Calvin  again  gain  control  of  the  city? 

Where  were  the  first  Reformed  foreign  missionaries 
sent  and  when? 

Who  led  the  expedition,  and  who  were  the  first  two 
missionaries? 

How  did  Villegagnon  at  first  treat  them? 

What  efforts  were  made  to  evangelize  the  natives? 

Describe  their  journey  back  to  France. 

Describe  the  first  martyrdoms  for  Protestantism  and 
the  Reformed? 

What  school  did  Calvin  found  at  Geneva? 

Describe  his  death. 

Where  is  his  monument  found? 

Describe   his   character. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Compilation  of  the  Reformation  i\t  French 

Switzerland  by  Virft  and  I  '»i;za  and  the 

Reformation  in  Holland 

I.     Virefs  Birth  and  Education. 

Peter  Viret  was  the  Boy-Preacher  of  the  Reformation, 
for  he  began  preaching  at  the  age  of  twenty.  He  was, 
therefore,  the  youngest  of  the  Reformers.  Although  he 
stands  behind  Farel  and  Calvin  in  importance,  yet  he  did 
an  important  work.  The  three,  Farel,  Calvin,  and  Viret, 
stand  together  as  the  great  trio  of  French  Reformers. 
Farel  was  the  Reformer  of  Neuchatel,  Calvin,  of  Geneva, 
and  Viret,  of  Lausanne,  the  city  so  beautifully  located  in 
the  northwestern  corner  of  the  Lake  of  Geneva. 

The  little  town  of  Orbe,  in  which  Viret  was  born  in 
1511,  is  picturesquely  situated  in  southwestern  Switzerland. 
At  the. age  of  sixteen  he  went  to  Paris  to  study,  and  re- 
mained there  several  years.  He  came  home  to  find  the 
Reformation  entering  there.  The  story  of  its  introduction 
into  Orbe  is  quite  dramatic.  In  Lent,  1531,  a  friar  came  to 
the  little  town  and  noisily  offered  indulgences  for  sale. 
One  day  as  he  was  hawking  his  wares  at  the  public 
fountain,  which  still  stands  in  the  center  of  the  town,  he 
was  interrupted  by  a  pale  man  with  a  stentorian  voice 
asking  him  the  question,  "Have  you  an  indulgence  for  a 
person  who  has  killed  his  father  and  mother?"  The  monk 
was  confounded.  At  this  the  questioner,  who  was  none 
other  than  Farel,  stepped  to  the  curb  of  the  fountain  and 
began  preaching  the  Gospel.  His  eloquence  was  so  great 
that  the  people  left  the  indulgence-monger,  and  gathered 
round  the  new  preacher.     As  a  result  of  Farel's  preaching, 

82 


VIRET  AND  PAREL  83 

two  leading  men  of  the  town  were  converted.  The  result 
of  this  sermon  was  excitement  enough  to  please  Farel,  but 
he  deemed  it  best  to  go  away.  Later  Farel  came  back  to 
Orbe,  and  on  Palm  Sunday,  1531,  he  entered  the  large 
church  there,  followed  by  a  crowd,  and  went  up  into  the 
pulpit,  where  he  preached.  The  Catholics  in  the  congre- 
gation tried  to  howl  him  down;  "It  was  a  glorious  noise," 
said  a  Catholic,  "you  really  could  not  have  heard  it  thunder." 
Then  they  proceeded  to  pull  Farel  out  of  the  pulpit,  but 
the  Bernese  magistrate  protected  him  and  led  him  safely 
out  of  the  church.  The  next  Sunday  Farel,  by  order  of 
the  Bernese,  preached  again  in  the  church  at  Orbe,  and 
had  the  first  Protestant  audience,  ten  persons  in  all,  among 
them  Viret.  On  May  6,  1531,  young  Viret,  after  having 
been  ordained  by  Farel,  preached  his  first  sermon  as 
pastor  of  the  church,  at  the  age  of  twenty.  And  on  Whit- 
sunday of  that  year,  Farel  administered  the  first  Protestant 
communion  to  eight  persons. 
II.     Viret  as  Farel's  Helper. 

Farel  went  away,  leaving  the  infant  church  at  Orbe  in 
the  care  of  Viret.  Under  his  care  it  increased  tenfold  in 
a  year,  so  that  by  Easter,  1532,  he  had  seventy-seven  com- 
municants. His  missionary  spirit  led  him  to  go  to  the 
neighboring  town  of  Payerne  in  September,  1532.  There 
he  challenged  a  priest,  who  had  publicly  defended  justifica- 
tion by  works,  to  a  debate,  and  the  day  was  appointed  for 
it.  But  before  it  took  place  the  priest  met  him'  on  the 
street  and  beat  him  so  severely  that  he  left  him  almost 
lifeless.  After  his  recovery,  he  went  with  Farel  to  Geneva 
in  1533.  These  two  men,  Farel  and  Viret,  so  different  in 
nature,  complemented  each  other;  Farel  so  aggressive  and 
headstrong,  Viret  so  mild  in  manner  and  sweet  in  his 
preaching.  Yet  Farel  loved  Viret  as  a  son  and  Viret 
looked  up  to  Farel  as  a  spiritual  father.  At  Geneva  the 
Catholics  attempted  to  poison  the  Reformers,  but  Viret 
was  the  only  one  who  ate  of  the  poisoned  soup.  Fortun- 
ately the  remedies  promptly  administered   saved  his  life. 


84  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

But  the  thin  face  of  Viret,  as  it  has  come  down  to  us  in 
his  portraits,  reveals  that  he  was  never  a  well  man  after- 
wards. After  his  recovery  he  aided  Farel  there  in  preach- 
ing. He  then  went  to  Neuchatel  as  pastor  for  a  short 
time,  but  on  his  way  back  to  Geneva  was  held  up  by  a 
providence.  He  met  the  Bernese  army  and  Bern  sent  him 
to  Lausanne  (which  Bern  had  recently  captured  from  the 
Duke  of  Savoy),  in  order  to  reform  the  city. 

III.     Viret  at  Lausanne. 

He  became  the  great  foreign  missionary  to  Lausanne 
and  the  district  of  Vaud,  which  had  not  yet  received  the 
Protestant  Gospel.  He  had  as  unpromising  a  field  as  our 
missionaries  to-day  to  Catholic  lands,  Spain  or  Brazil. 
Farel  had  been  driven  out  by  the  Catholics  at  Lausanne, 
what  hope  was  there  for  him?  He  at  first  preached  in 
the  streets  and  at  his  hotel.  Finally  to  further  the  Prot- 
estant cause,  a  great  disputation  was  held  at  Lausanne, 
October  1,  1536.  Farel  and  Calvin,  with  other  foreign  min- 
isters, were  present  to  help  Viret.  Farel  placed  ten  theses 
before  the  conference  for  debate.  Viret  led  in  the  dis- 
cussion, assisted  by  Farel  and  Calvin.  When  the  debate 
on  transubstantiation  took  place,  a  monk  arose  and  pub- 
licly disavowed  Catholicism.  Another  dramatic  episode  oc- 
curred in  the  debate  on  justification.  Farel  called  for  the 
reading  of  the  verse  in  the  third  chapter  of  Romans,  "We 
see  how  that  it  is  freely,  without  desert,  without  the  deeds 
of  the  law,  that  man  is  justified."  At  this  the  Catholic 
disputant,  Dr.  Blancherose,  burst  out,  "I  do  not  believe  that 
that  is  there."  A  Bible  was  brought  to  him  from  the 
neighboring  Franciscan  Convent,  and  he  was  bidden  to  read 
it  for  himself.  Scarcely  believing  his  eyes,  he  cried  out. 
"It  is  true."  His  conversion  completed  the  victory  for  the 
Reformed. 

Viret  labored  not  only  in  Lausanne,  but  all  over  the 
district  of  Vaud,  so  as  to  convert  it  to  Protestantism.  But 
his   greatest    work   was    the    founding   of   an   Academy   at 


VIRET'S  LATER  YEARS  85 

Lausanne  in  1537  for  the  training  of  ministers.  This  was 
more  than  twenty  years  before  Calvin  was  able  to  found 
a  similar  school  at  Geneva.  He  labored  quietly  for  many 
years  as  professor  and  lecturer  in  that  Academy.  Then 
he  came  into  conflict  with  Bern,  which  ruled  Lausanne,  on 
the  question  of  church  discipline,  and  as  he  refused  to 
obey  the  authorities  at  Bern,  he  was  deposed  and  left  in 
1559. 

He  then  went  to  Geneva,  where  he  was  elected  pastor. 
His  sermons  gave  great  satisfaction,  for  he  was  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  orators  of  the  Reformation.  His 
preaching  was  sweet,  yet  forceful,  so  that  it  held  the  audi- 
ence with  rare  power.  Calvin  was  the  nervous  orator, 
Viret  the  persuasive  one.  Calvin  carried  his  audience  by 
the  forcefulness  of  thought  and  logic;  Viret  by  his  sweet- 
ness  and  persuasiveness. 

IV.     Viret  in  France. 

But  after  being  in  Geneva  for  two  years,  in  1561,  he 
became  pastor  at  Nismes  in  southern  France,  where  he 
was  very  successful.  Then  he  became  pastor  at  Lyons  for 
a  short  time.  But  his  position  was  very  difficult,  for  the 
first  civil  war  of  the  Huguenots  with  the  Catholics  had 
broken  out.  In  1566  he  was  driven  out  of  Lyons,  and  in 
1567  he  was  called  by  the  Huguenot  Queen  of  Navarre, 
Jeanne  D'Albret,*  to  come  to  Orthez  as  pastor  and  pro- 
fessor. But  in  1569  the  Catholic  troops  burst  into  this  dis- 
trict of  Beam,  captured  Orthez,  Pau,  and  other  places,  and 
drove  away  the  professors.  Viret  was  captured  and  im- 
prisoned at  Orthez.  The  Huguenot  army  came  to  his 
relief  and  captured  the  chateau  of  Chevany,  where  he  was 
imprisoned,  and  set  him  free.  On  August  23,  1569,  the 
Queen  of  Navarre  made  her  triumphal  entry  into  Pau,  her 
capital.     But  the  anxieties,  sufferings,  and  labors   proved 

*  For  her  interesting  life,  see  Good,  "Famous  Women 
of  the  Reformed  Church,"  pages  71-80. 


S6  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

too  great  for  the  man  who  had  not  been  strong  since  he 
was  poisoned  at  Geneva,  and  he  died  at  Orthez,  1571. 

So  died  the  one  who  had  begun,  almost  as  a  boy,  to 
preach  the  Gospel.  He  was  of  stronger  mind  than  he  has 
been  given  credit  for  by  historians.  He  wrote  several 
strong  theological  works,  as  ''Christian  Instruction." 
Among  the  Reformers  he  was  the  ironical  one.  What 
Erasmus  used  before  the  Reformation,  and  Voltaire,  two 
centuries  after  it,  he  used  to  some  extent;  namely,  satire 
against  the  Catholics.  In  this  he  was  the  forerunner  of 
Agrippa  D'Aubigne,  the  greatest  satirist  of  his  day  and  a 
Huguenot.*  Only  recently  has  the  ability  and  influence  of 
Viret  begun  to  be  realized  in  connection  with  the  400th 
anniversary  of  his  birth. 

V.     Beza — Introductory. 

Theodore  Beza  was  the  Gentleman  of  the  Reformation. 
Not  that  the  other  Reformers  of  the  Reformation  were  not 
gentlemen,  but  Beza  excelled  them  all.  The  French  are 
proverbially  polite,  but  Beza  was  the  quintessence  of 
French  politeness.  He  was  above  all  a  Christian  Courtier. 
for  in  his  early  life  he  had  been  trained  in  the  French 
court;  and  later,  to  the  graces  of  the  courtier  he  added 
those  of  the  Christian.  Of  all  the  Reformers,  he  was  the 
one  best  fitted  to  state  and  defend  Protestantism  before 
the  King  and  Queen  of  France  at  the  famous  Colloquy  of 
Poissy,  1561.  He  was  not  only  the  Christian  gentleman, 
but  also  one  of  the  most  learned  scholars  of  his  day.  And 
he  was  also  the  last  of  the  Reformers,  living  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century  after  the  others  had  passed  away. 
If  Erasmus,  the  famous  scholar  who  published  the  New 
Testament  in  Greek,  may  be  said  to  have  begun  the  Re- 
formation, Beza,  who,  as  a  great  scholar,  also  published 
the  New  Testament,  may  be  said  to  have  closed  it. 

*  For  his  life,  see  Good,  "History  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  Switzerland,"  pages  116-121. 


BEZA'S    EARLY    LIFE  87 

VI.  Beza's  Birth  and  Education. 

Beza  was  born  at  Vezelay,  France,  June  24,  1519.  He 
was  a  puny  child,  and  lost  his  mother  when  he  was  quite 
young.  He  had  a  wealthy  uncle  who  reared  him  in  his 
own  home.  One  day  when  he  was  nine  years  old,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  king's  council  was  the  guest  of  his  uncle,  and 
noticing  young  Theodore,  said  he  was  about  sending  his 
nephew  of  the  same  age  to  school  at  Orleans  to  a  Pro- 
fessor Wolmar.  So  Beza's  uncle  sent  Theodore  with  this 
man's  son,  and  thus  Wolmar,  who  ten  years  before  had 
taught  Calvin,  was  now  the  teacher  of  the  boy  who  was 
later  to  become  Calvin's  successor.  Under  him  Beza 
gained  such  a  command  of  Latin  and  Greek,  as  few  men 
of  his  day  possessed.  But  better  than  that,  Wolmar  in- 
fluenced him  to  the  Bible,  and  thus  prepared  him  for  Prot- 
estantism. Wolmar  taught  Beza  for  seven  years  at  Orleans 
and  Bourges;  and  when  he  went  back  to  Geimany,  so  great 
was  his  love  for  Beza  that  he  wanted  to  take  him  with  him. 
But  Beza's  father  refused,  so  Beza  remained  at  home  to 
enter  the  study  of  law.  In  1539,  having  finished  the 
university,  he  went  to  Paris  to  practice  law.  But  law  did 
not  interest  him,  so  he  led  the  life  of  a  scholar  rather 
than  of  a  lawyer.  And  as  he  had  plenty  of  money  (for 
his  uncle  had  died)  he  became  a  gentleman  of  leisure. 
Poetry  attracted  him  and  he  wrote  his  "Juvenalia,"  in  imi- 
tation of  the  classics. 

VII.  Beza's  Conversion. 

But  the  influence  of  Wolmar  ever  remained  with  him. 
During  these  years  his  ideal  (which  had  been  prevented 
by  his  father),  viz.,  to  go  to  Germany  to  be  with  Wolmar, 
still  hung  before  his  eyes.  How  remarkable  is  the  lasting 
influence  of  a  good  teacher.  The  high  ideals  of  Wolmar 
remained  in  his  mind,  and  kept  him  from  becoming  what 
was  so  common  among  Frenchmen  of  means  and  culture — 
a  man  of  loose  morals.  Wolmar  was  to  Beza  what  Wytten- 
bach  was  to  Zwingli.     Then  God's  providence  came  in  to 


88  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

help.  His  older  brother  died  and  that  sobered  him.  Then 
came  a  serious  illness,  so  severe  that  his  life  was  for  a 
time  despaired  of,  and  so  long  that  it  gave  him  time 
for  deep  thought.  As  he  remembered  his  worldliness  and 
sinful  condition,  he  came  to  deep  conviction  of  sin,  and 
out  of  that  he  came  to  forgiveness,  and  Wolmar's  Savior 
became  his.  Knowing  that  France  was  no  place  for  a 
Protestant,  he  suddenly  fled  to  Geneva,  where  he  arrived 
October  24,  1548. 

VIII.  Beza  at  Lausanne  and  Geneva. 

The  first  thing  Beza  did  was  to  fulfill  the  ideal  of  years 
— to  go  and  visit  Wolmar  in  Germany.  On  his  return  to 
Geneva,  he  happened  to  stop  at  Lausanne,  where  Viret 
was  just  founding  the  Academy.  Viret  felt  that  Beza  was 
the  man  he  needed,  and  so  Beza  became  professor  of 
Greek,  and  taught  there  for  nine  years.  In  1558  he  re- 
signed at  Lausanne  after  a  brilliant  career,  in  which  the 
number  of  students  had  grown  from  a  mere  handful  to 
700.  He  left  for  the  same  reason  as  Viret,  because  he  ap- 
proved of  the  use  of  church  discipline  by  the  Church,  which 
Bern  opposed. 

In  Geneva  he  became  Calvin's  assistant;  for  Calvin's 
work  had  grown  far  beyond  his  failing  strength.  When 
Calvin  opened  his  academy  at  Geneva  in  1559,  Beza  became 
its  first  rector  or  head.  For  this  his  splendid  knowledge 
of  the  classics  and  his  high  position  in  literature  amply 
fitted  him. 

IX.  Beza  at  Poissy. 

In  1561  occurred  the  greatest  event  in  Beza's  life,  and 
one  of  the  most  dramatic  in  the  history  of  the  Reformation, 
the  Colloquy  at  Poissy,  near  Paris.  This  reveals  Beza's 
missionary  zeal,  for  he  wanted  to  convert  the  court  of 
France  to  Protestantism  in  the  hope  that  France  would 
follow.  What  a  contrast!  Thirteen  years  before  he  had 
left  France  for  exile,  and  now  it  was  the  king  who  invited 
him  to  return.     For  the  king  of  France  was  willing  to  give 


BEZA'S   DEFENSE   AT    POISSY  89 

Protestantism  a  hearing.  The  Protestants  of  France  looked 
around  for  a  man  who  could  measure  up  to  such  an  occasion. 
Calvin  could  have  done  it,  but  he  was  too  sickly  to  leave 
Geneva;  and  besides,  he  had  so  many  enemies  in  France 
that  it  would  have  been  dangerous.  So  Beza  was  chosen, 
and  no  one  was  better  fitted  by  grace,  eloquence,  and  learn- 
ing than  he.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  suburbs  of  Paris 
is  St.  Germain,  with  its  magnificent  forest.  There  the  King 
of  France  had  his  palace.  Near  it,  about  three  miles  away, 
in  a  nun's  convent,  the  famous  Colloquy  took  place,  Sep- 
tember 9,  1561. 

No  more  magnificent  assembly  could  have  been  present. 
There  was  the  boy  King,  Charles  IX,  his  mother,  later  the 
infamous  Catherine  de  'Medici,  and  all  the  nobles  of  the 
court  in  all  their  brilliant  costumes.  There  were  also  the 
great  dignitaries  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  their  most 
gorgeous  robes.  And  there  stood  Beza,  the  Christian  cour- 
tier, the  best  apologist  of  the  Protestants.  As  Beza  reached 
the  rail  before  the  gathered  court,  he  and  his  colleagues 
knelt  on  the  floor  and  prayed  aloud  the  beautiful  Huguenot 
"Confession  of  Sin."  Its  beauty  made  a  profound  impres- 
sion. And  then  with  wonderful  eloquence,  grace,  and  great 
ability,  he  summarized  before  the  Catholic  court  the  faith 
of  the  Protestants.  He  was  listened  to  respectfully  until 
he  came  to  speak  about  the  Lord's  Supper,  until  he  happened 
to  say  that  "the  body  of  Christ  is  as  far  removed  from  the 
Lord's  Supper  as  the  heavens  are  from  the  earth."  The 
Catholic  prelates  broke  out  with  the  exclamation  "he  has 
blasphemed,"  and  for  a  few  moments  there  was  much  con- 
fusion. But  the  queen-mother  commanded  silence.  Having 
finished  his  address  he  presented  to  the  King  a  copy  of  the 
Confession  of  the  Huguenot  Church,  the  "Gallic  Confession." 
Then  occurred  another  sensation.  The  leader  of  the  Catho- 
lics. Cardinal  Tournon,  asked  that  Beza's  words  be  not  ac- 
cepted, at  least  until  a  day  had  been  appointed  in  which 
they  could  be  answered.  The  queen-mother  said,  "We  are 
here  to  hear  both  sides.    Reply  to  the  address  of  Mr.  Beza." 


•JO  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

But  the  Cardinal  was  afraid  to  answer  Beza,  and  no  the 
famous  Colloquy  closed.  Never  perhaps  in  the  history  of 
Protestantism  was  such  a  magnificent  defense  made  before 
so  magnificent  a  court.  Beza  remained  in  France  for  a  year 
and  a  half,  counseling  the  Huguenots  in  their  first  civil  war. 
This  Colloquy  made  him  the  acknowledged  head  of  the 
French  Church.  Then  he  returned  to  Geneva  and  after 
Calvin's  death  in  1564,  he  became  the  head,  also,  of  the 
Church  in  Geneva. 

X.     His  Last  Years. 

Just  before  his  death  there  occurred  the  Escalade.  The 
Duke  of  Savoy,  to  whom  Geneva  had  formerly  belonged,  had 
always  been  anxious  to  recover  the  city  for  himself.  This 
would  have  meant  the  extinction  of  Protestantism  there. 
So  the  Genevese  were  always  on  the  alert  against  Savoy. 
But  on  the  night  of  December  12,  1602,  one  of  the  longest 
and  darkest  nights  of  the  year,  eight  thousand  of  the 
Duke's  soldiers  secretly  approached  Geneva.  The  advance 
guard  put  ladders  to  the  walls  so  as  to  scale  them.  They 
were  encouraged  by  the  Jesuits,  who  whispered,  "Climb 
bolder,  each  round  is  a  step  heavenward."  They  had  scaled 
the  walls  to  the  number  of  two  hundred;  they  had  already 
gotten  so  far  as  to  approach  the  inside  of  one  of  the  gates, 
which  a  traitor  had  promised  to  open  to  them,  when  a  sen- 
tinel saw  then  and  discharged  his  gun.  This  signal  woke 
up  the  Genevese  and  they  rushed  armed  into  the  streets 
by  thousands.  The  Savoyards  were  driven  back  to  the 
ramparts.  But  before  they  got  there,  one  of  the  Genevese 
fired  a  cannon,  which,  by  the  hand  of  providence,  was  so 
guided  in  the  darkness  that  it  hit  all  their  ladders  and 
destroyed  them.  The  result  was,  that  as  the  Savoy  soldiers 
could  not  escape  on  their  ladders,  they  were  caught  like 
rats  in  a  trap.  Many  were  killed  and  those  captured  were 
beheaded  as  a  warning  to  Savoy.  As  soon  as  the  conflict 
was  over,  the  people  streamed  to  the  Reformed  cathedral, 
where  Beza  held  a  thanksgiving  service.     The  124th  Psalm. 


BRAVE  LITTLE  HOLLAND  91 

translated  by  Beza,  was  sung,  and  every  year  since,  on  that 
day,  a  commemorative  service  is  held  in  Geneva,  and  that 
Psalm  is  sung. 

But  Beza  was  now  an  old  man.  He  lived  longer  than 
any  of  the  Reformers,  even  to  the  great  age  of  86.  On 
October  13,  1605,  he  passed  away.  His  last  words  were 
significant:  "Is  the  city  in  full  safety  and  quiet?"  Having 
received  an  affirmative  answer,  he  sank  down  and  in  a  few 
moments  passed  away  as  his  friends  prayed  by  his  bedside. 
So  died  the  last  of  the  Reformers,  a  scholar  and  a  theologian, 
a  statesman  and  a  poet.  But  Beza  lives  in  the  hearts  of 
the  French  to-day  more  by  his  metrical  translation  of  the 
Psalms  than  by  anything  else,  for  the  singing  of  these 
Psalms  has  been  the  great  power  in  the  Huguenot  Church. 

XI.     Brave  Little  Holland. 

Brave  little  Holland,  the  land  of  one  hundred  thousand 
martyrs  of  our  faith!  The  land,  that  had  fought  the  sea 
and  conquered  it,  had  also  to  fight  the  Roman  See  and 
build  dykes  against  its  floods  of  superstitions,  heresies,  and 
cruelties.  A  peculiarity  of  the  Reformation  in  Holland  was 
that  it  had  no  one  commanding  Reformer,  who  rises 
above  the  others  as  does  Luther  in  Germany,  or  as  Zwingli 
and  Calvin  do  in  Switzerland.  It  was  a  people's  Reforma- 
tion, a  mighty  popular  uprising  against  popery.  There  were 
many  Reformers,  brave  and  noble  men  and  women,  but  no 
one  of  them  towers  far  above  the  rest.  Its  history  is  not, 
therefore,  so  picturesque  because  it  cannot  be  gathered 
around  one  great  personage.  Only  two  characters  have 
become  at  all  prominent,  Guy  de  Bres,  the  author  of  the 
Belgic  Confession,  and  Prince  William  of  Orange,  that 
magnificent  statesman;  only  he  was  a  politician  rather  than 
a  religious  reformer.  We  will  try  and  use  these  two  men 
as  clues  to  the  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands.* 

*  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  speaking  of  the  Reformation, 
we  include  Belgium  in  the  Netherlands,  though  they  are 
now  separated:  for  Belgium  was  at  that  time  included  with 


92  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

XII.     The  Early  Reformation. 

The  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands  passed  through 
three  periods,  Lutheran,  Anabaptist,  and  Reformed.  The 
first  influences  for  Protestantism  came  into  Holland  from 
Germany.  Luther's  writings  came  in  very  early.  The 
Reformation  appeared  first  in  Belgium.  Jacob  Spreng,  the 
provost  of  the  Augustinian  monastery  at  Antwerp,  preached 
the  Evangelical  Gospel,  it  is  said,  as  early  as  1517.  He  was 
arrested  and  condemned,  but  recanted.  Broken-hearted  at 
his  weakness,  when  set  free,  he  preached  the  Evangelical 
doctrines  more  than  ever.  Threatened  with  arrest  again, 
he  fled  to  Germany.  Henry  of  Zutphen,  another  monk  of 
the  same  cloister  as  Spreng,  having  heard  Spreng  preach 
the  Evangelical  doctrines,  fled  to  Luther  at  Wittenberg  and 
returned  to  Antwerp,  where  he  preached  with  such  power 
that  the  Church  of  the  Augustinians  could  not  hold  the 
people.  He  was  the  great  preacher  of  his  age.  Antwerp 
hung  on  his  lips.  He  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  and 
expected  to  give  up  his  life  for  his  faith.  But  a  great  crowd 
of  his  friends  broke  into  the  prison  and  set  him  free.  The 
enmity  of  the  Catholics  was  so  great  that  the  monastery 
that  produced  Spreng  and  Zutphen  was  razed  to  the  ground 
in  1522.  Still,  however,  the  preaching  continued.  Great 
crowds  went  wherever  there  was  Protestant  preaching  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  such  preaching  was  forbidden  by  law. 
In  1523  two  Augustinian  monks,  Voes  and  Esch,  were  pub- 
licly burned  at  the  stake  in  Brussels  as  adherents  of  Luther. 
As  the  fires  were  kindled,  they  repeated  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
sang  the  TeDeum  and  prayed  in  the  flames,  "Jesus  thou 
Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  us." 

Meanwhile  the  gospel  was  entering  Holland  as  well  as 
Belgium.  On  September  15,  1525,  a  Protestant  martyrdom 
occurred  in  front  of  the  Prince's  palace  at  the  Hague.    John 

Holland  in  the  Netherlands.  And  the  Reformation  appeared 
in  both,  though  Belgium  later  became  almost  entirely 
Catholic. 


GUY  DE  BRES  93 

Van  Bakker,  a  young  Hollander,  had  been  preaching  the 
Evangelical  Gospel  and  had  been  to  Wittenberg.  He  re- 
turned but  retired  from  the  priesthood  and  was  a  farmer, 
though  still  preaching.  He  went  back  to  the  priesthood 
and  was  then  arrested,  tried,  condemned  and  martyred. 
They  tore  his  priest's  robes  from  him,  and  he  replied:  "In 
the  dress  of  a  citizen,  I  look  more  like  a  Christian  than 
before."  Before  he  died,  he  called  to  his  brethren,  "Be  of 
good  cheer.  As  valiant  soldiers  and  stimulated  by  my 
example,  defend  the  truth  of  the  gospel  against  all  de- 
tractors." After  him  the  list  of  martyrs  became  so  great 
that  it  is  impossible  to  describe  them  or  to  give  their 
noble  dying  testimonies.  It  is  said  that  during  the  reign 
of  Emperor  Charles  V  there  were  already  fifty  thousand 
martyrs  in  the  Netherlands. 

XIII.  The  Netherlands  Become  Calvinistic. 
Protestantism  in  the  Netherlands  was,  as  we  have  said, 

at  first  Lutheran.  Then  Anabaptism  seemed  to  gain  the 
ascendency.  Finally,  however,  the  Netherlands  became  Re- 
formed. This  was  due  to  the  fact  that  a  number  of  Calvin's 
pupils  came  into  Belgium,  where  as  Frenchmen,  they  were 
welcomed  by  the  people  who  also  spoke  French,  Calvin's 
language.  From  Belgium  the  influence  of  Calvinism  spread 
north  to  Holland.  The  severe  doctrines  of  Calvin  seemed 
especially  to  appeal  to  the  Dutch  mind.  The  leader  in  this, 
if  any  one  can  be  called  a  leader,  was  Guy  de  Bres,  the 
author  of  the  Belgic  Confession  or  the  creed  of  the  Nether- 
lands. 

XIV.  Life  and  Early  Preaching  of  Guy  de  Bres. 

Guy  de  Bres  was  born  at  Mons  about  1522.  He  came 
under  Protestant  influences  in  his  early  manhood.  In  1550 
when  the  placards  were  placed  in  the  towns  against  Prot- 
estantism, he  fled  to  England,  and  joined  the  Church  of  the 
Refugees  in  London,  of  which  Lasco  was  the  pastor.  In 
1553  when  King  Edward  VI  died  and  Queen  Mary  came  to 
the  throne,  he  was  compelled  to  flee.     He  might  have  found 


1)4  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

a  refuge  in  the  city  of  Emden  in  northwestern  Germany. 
But  no,  he  went  hack  to  his  own  country,  though  at  the 
risk  of  his  life,  because  he  was  so  anxious  that  his  family 
and  friends  should  have  the  gospel.  He  became  a  traveling 
evangelist  and  missionary  in  southwestern  Belgium  and 
northeastern  France.  For  two  years  (1554-1556),  he 
preached  at  Lille.  His  missionary  zeal  led  him  also  to 
evangelize  in  its  environs.  The  crown  of  his  work  were 
four  martyrs  in  1556,  who  died  with  the  prayer  on  their 
lips  "Lord  Jesus,  into  thy  hand  we  commend  our  spirits." 
That  persecution  disorganized  his  work  there  and  he  went 
to  Ghent  for  a  short  time. 

Then  he  went  on  his  second  exile.  London  had  been 
the  place  of  his  first  exile;  Frankford  in  Germany  was  the 
place  of  his  second,  where  he  probably  met  Calvin.  Indeed, 
he  went  farther  in  order  to  study,  for  he  went  to  Lausanne 
and  Geneva.  But  he  could  not  keep  himself  from  work,  for 
he  had  the  true  missionary  spirit.  When  his  ruler,  Emperor 
Charles  V,  died  and  Philip  II  became  ruler  of  the  Nether- 
lands, back  he  went  to  Belgium.  He  preached  at  Lille,  then 
at  Antwerp  and  then  at  Tournai.  At  Tournai  he  organized 
eight  congregations.  The  Protestant  movement  became  so 
strong  there  that  they  had  a  night  demonstration  of  it, 
when  they  sang  Psalms  in  the  streets  and  the  public  places; 
yes,  even  before  the  priests'  houses.  Guy  had  too  much 
common  sense  to  approve  of  this,  for  he  knew  it  would 
cause  a  reaction,  and  it  did.  The  government  appointed  a 
commission  against  them  and  Guy  had  to  leave.  He  was 
a  veritable  "bird  of  passage,"  for  he  dared  not  stay  long 
in  any  one  place.  All  this  reveals  his  bravery,  for  like 
Damocles  he  lived  with  the  sword  of  death  continually 
hanging  over  his  head. 

XV.     The  Belgic  Confession. 

It  was  while  at  Tournai  that  he  had  written  the  Belgic 
Confession.  Before  that  time  the  Dutch  and  Belgians  had 
had  no  creed  except  that  they  used  several  catechisms,  as 


THE   BELGIC   CONFESSION  95 

Calvin's  and  the  Heidelberg.  But  he  felt  the  need  of  a 
common  bond  for  the  churches  of  his  land.  Another  reason 
why  he  wrote  it  was  to  oppose  the  Anabaptists,  some  of 
whom  were  heretical.  After  he  had  composed  it,  he  sent  it 
to  different  ministers  in  his  land  and  abroad,  especially  to 
Saravia.  professor  of  theology  at  Leyden.  Saravia  sent  it 
to  Calvin,  who  approved  of  it,  but  advised  that  it  be  set 
aside  for  the  Gallic  Confession  which  had  just  been  adopted 
by  the  Reformed  Churches  of  France  in  1559.  De  Bres 
followed  the  advice  partially,  for  it  is  evident  that  his 
Confession  was  based  on  the  Gallic,  which  it  very  much 
resembles.  In  1561  he  sent  it  to  the  Reformed  ministers 
in  Emden,  who  were  Zwinglian,  and  they  approved  of  it.  It 
was  submitted  a  second  time  to  the  ministers  at  home,  and 
their  suggestions  were  embodied  in  it.  It  was  approved 
by  the  pastors  of  the  Walloon  and  Flemish  Churches,  and 
published  in  1562  in  French  for  the  south  provinces,  and  in 
Dutch  for  the  northern  provinces. 

The  history  of  its  official  adoption  is  quite  interesting. 
On  October  2,  1565,  about  twenty  nobles  met  in  the  city  of 
Brussels.  They  were  led  in  prayer  by  Francis  Junius. 
He,  when  a  young  man,  as  pastor  at  Antwerp,  had  been  so 
zealous  and  fearless  as  to  preach  when  the  flames 
that  were  consuming  a  Protestant  were  reflected  on 
the  walls  of  the  room  where  he  preached.  These  nobles 
consulted  how  they  could  protect  themselves  from  the 
Spanish  yoke.  They  signed  an  agreement.  And  the  next 
year  between  three  and  four  hundred  of  them  rode  into 
Brussels  and  presented  a  petition  to  the  Regent,  Margaret, 
requesting  that  she  remove  all  restrictions  of  Protestantism. 
The  reply,  says  Hansen,  to  the  petition  was  so  equivocal 
that  the  people  changed  the  word  "moderation"  in  it  to 
"murderation."  Still  the  appearance  of  so  many  nobles 
gave  courage  to  the  Protestants,  and  they  held  a  synod 
at  Antwerp  in  May,  1566.  This  meeting  was  a  secret  one, 
for  the  danger  was  great.  The  members  were  required  to 
give  a  countersign, — "the  vineyard," — before  they  were  per- 


96  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

mitted  to  enter.  This  was  the  synod  that  formally  adopted 
the  Confession  of  Guy  de  Bres.  At  the  synod  of  Dort, 
1618,  it,  together  with  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  and  the 
Canons  of  Dort,  was  adopted  as  the  creed  of  the  Dutch 
Church. 

XVI.     The  Later  Preaching  of  Guy  de  Bres. 

Guy  de  Bres,  having  completed  his  creed,  later  died  for 
it.  All  the  creeds  of  the  Reformed  and  Presbyterian 
Churches  have  many  martyrs,  but  this  was  the  only  one 
whose  author  died  for  it.  Guy  now  went  on  his  third  exile. 
This  time  he  went  to  Sedan.  From  Sedan  he  returned  to 
Antwerp  in  1566.  He  found  that  by  that  time  the  people 
had  largely  become  Protestant.  Great  open-air  services  were 
being  held.  Thus  in  June  a  Reformed  minister,  Hermann 
De  Strycker,  preached  on  the  outskirts  of  Ghent  to  assem- 
blies of  seven  to  eight  thousand.  On  June  28,  at  eight  P.  M., 
six  thousand  persons  assembled  near  Tournai  to  hear  a 
Protestant  minister,  and  ten  thousand  the  third  day  there- 
after at  Pont  a  Rieu.  De  Bres,  after  remaining  at  Antwerp 
for  three  weeks,  went  to  Valenciennes.  Here  the  Reforma- 
tion had  first  appeared  in  1561.  It  showed  itself,  as  it  had 
at  Tournai,  by  the  singing  of  Psalms  in  the  streets.  In 
1562  two  of  the  Protestants  were  about  to  be  put  to  death. 
Their  cry,  "Father  eternal,"  caused  a  tumult.  The  scaffold 
was  torn  down  and  they  were  freed.  But  that  only  brought 
severer  measures  against  them.  In  1565  a  Protestant  min- 
ister secretly  preached  there  for  a  year.  Just  before  Guy's 
arrival  this  minister  had  announced  a  public  service,  and 
from  two  to  three  thousand  attended.  When  Guy  arrived,  a 
dozen  services  were  held,  attended  by  three  to  six  thousand. 
It  is  said  that  three-fourths  of  the  town  (which  had  thirty 
thousand  inhabitants)  attended  Protestant  services.  In 
August  the  images  were  torn  out  of  the  Catholic  churches, 
and  Protestant  worship  was  introduced  into  them.  But 
then  an  army  was  sent  against  Valenciennes  by  the  Cath- 
olics,  and   it   was   besjeged    for   seven   months.     Meanwhile 


PRINCE  WILLIAM  OF  ORANGE  97 

the  Catholics  outside  were  busy  working  on  the  Catholic 
party  within  the  walls.  As  it  was  evident  that  it  could  not 
hold  out,  Guy,  with  four  others,  fled.  They  were  arrested 
and  imprisoned  in  the  castle  at  Doornik,  then  at  Tournai, 
and  finally  at  Valenciennes.  He  was  tried  and  condemned. 
From  prison  he  wrote  letters  to  his  brethren,  to  his  old 
mother,  his  wife  and  children. 

XVII.  Martyrdom  of  Guy  de  Bres. 

On  May  31,  1567,  he  was  executed  at  the  city  hall  of 
Valenciennes.  He  went  to  death  as  to  a  marriage  feast.  When 
he  got  to  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  he  attempted  to  pray.  The 
executioner  did  not  permit  it,  but  pushed  him  up  the 
ladder.  But  on  the  last  round  of  the  ladder  he  cried  to 
the  people,  "Be  submissive  to  the  magistrates,  faithful  to 
the  truth."  He  protested  that  he  had  taught  nothing  but 
the  truth  of  God. 

So  died  one  of  the  flaming  heralds  of  the  truth.  But, 
though  dead,  he  did  not  die.  His  Gospel  remained  to  found 
the  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  For  as  the  great  successor  of 
Guy  de  Bres  came  the  great  statesman,  William  of  Orange. 

XVIII.  Prince  William  of  Orange. 

Just  at  the  time  of  De  Bres'  death,  the  Reformed 
fled  to  Germany,  and  there  held  two  synods,  at  Wesel 
(1568)  and  at  Emden  (1571),  to  organize  their  church. 
After  that  they  returned  to  the  Netherlands.  For  the 
Duke  of  Alva  was  sent  to  the  Netherlands  to  crush  out 
Protestantism  by  the  introduction  of  the  inquisition.  But 
the  Dutch  would  not  submit  to  the  inquisition.  Prince 
William  of  Orange  arose  in  1568  to  defend  the  liberties  of 
the  Netherlands  against  Spain,  and  to  defend  Protestantism 
against  the  inquisition.  In  1572  there  came  a  thunder- 
clap out  of  a  clear  sky  as  the  "sea-beggars"  captured  the 
town  of  Briel,  and  William  was  made  stadt-holder  or  gov- 
ernor. At  first  in  the  war  with  Spain  he  suffered  much 
from  the  lack  of  funds  and  the  smallness  of  his  army.  As 
a  result  the  town  of  Haarlem  was  besieged  and  captured  by 


98  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

the  Spaniards.  The  Spaniards  tied  the  Reformed  citizens 
of  Haarlem  together,  two  and  two,  and  threw  them  into 
the  lake  of  Haarlem.  In  the  face  of  all  these  reverses, 
William  of  Orange  publicly  professed  the  Reformed  faith 
in  1573. 

The  next  year  came  the  siege  of  Leyden.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  that  city,  knowing  they  would  be  massacred  by  the 
Spaniards  like  the  citizens  of  Haarlem,  determined  to  die 
rather  than  surrender.  They  ate  the  leaves  off  the  trees 
and  the  grass  in  the  streets,  but  they  would  not  surrender. 
William  of  Orange  came  to  their  rescue  with  a  fleet.  The 
dykes  were  broken  down  so  that  the  ocean  could  come 
in,  and  his  fleet  relieved  them,  October  3,  1574.  The  first 
thing  that  the  thankful  people  did  was  to  go  to  the  Great 
Dutch  Church  there  and  thank  God  for  their  deliverance. 
And  then  they  founded,  as  a  memorial  of  their  deliverance, 
the  great  university  of  Leyden.  In  1576  the  different 
provinces  of  the  Netherlands,  south  as  well  as  north.  Cath- 
olic as  well  as  Protestant,  united  in  the  pacification  of 
Ghent,  which  united  all  the  Netherlands  against  Spain. 

XIX.     The  Death  of  William  of  Orange. 

This  great  prince,  William  of  Orange,  continued  his 
victorious  career  in  war  and  diplomacy  until  July  10, 
1584,  when  he  was  shot  by  an  assassin.  The  Catholics, 
having  been  unable  to  destroy  him  by  fair  means,  resorted 
to  foul.  His  life  had  often  been  threatened.  The  assassin. 
Gerard,  who  killed  him,  pretended  to  be  a  Calvinist,  and 
stayed  at  Delft,  where  Prince  William  was  living,  so  as  to 
become  familiar  with  William's  habits.  As  the  prince  rose 
from  the  dining  table  and  passed  out  of  the  room,  this 
man,  who  was  in  hiding  outside  of  the  door,  fired  at  him. 
The  prince  realized  that  his  end  had  come.  "My  God,  take 
pity  on  my  soul:  my  God,  take  pity  on  this  poor  people," 
was  his  dying  cry.  His  sister  asked  him  if  he  trusted  his 
soul  to  Christ,  and  "Yes"  was  his  last  word,  lie  was  buried 
in    the   New   Church    at   Delft,    where    a    beautiful    marble 


WILLIAM   OF  ORANGE'S   CHARACTER  99 

monument  has  been  erected  to  his  memory.  But  his  greatest 
monument  is  the  Netherlands,  which,  having  been  saved 
by  him  from  Spain  and  the  Catholics,  soon  became  the  lead- 
ing Protestant  nation  of  Europe.  William  of  Orange  is, 
without  doubt,  one  of  the  greatest  characters  in  history. 
He  had  all  the  qualities  of  a  great  world-leader, — far- 
sightedness, tact,  .breadth  of  mind,  firmness  of  purpose,  and 
knowledge  of  human  nature.  His  absolute  self-sacrifice  for 
his  country  has  raised  him  to  be  one  of  the  noblest  of 
patriots,  and  his  devotion  to  our  Reformed  faith  has  made 
him  one  of  the  greatest  of  her  sons. 


QUESTIONS 

W'hat  was  the  significance  of  Viret  among  the  Re- 
formers? 

Describe  Farel's  visit  to  Orbe,  and  its  results. 

Describe  Viret's  preaching  at  Payerne. 

Describe  the  poisoning  of  Viret. 

What  was  the  Conference  at  Lausanne? 

Why  had  Viret  to  leave  Lausanne,  and  where  did  he  go? 

Describe  his  labors  in  France. 

What  was  the  significance  of  Beza  among  the  Re- 
formers? 

What  was  Wolmar's  influence  over  him? 

What  led  to  his  conversion? 

Where  did  he  go,  and  what  did  he  do? 

What  did  he  do  later  at  Geneva? 

Describe  the  Conference  at  Poissy. 

What  was  the  Escalade,  and  how  was  it  celebrated? 

Describe  Beza's  death  and  the  influence  of  his  Psalms. 

HOLLAND 

What  was  the  great  peculiarity  of  the  Reformation  in 
the  Netherlands? 


100  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

In  it  what  two  characters  rise  into  prominence? 

Through  what  three  periods  did  the  Reformation  in  the 
Netherlands  pass? 

Describe  the  early  Reformation  at  Antwerp. 

Describe  the  early  Reformation  in  Holland. 

How  did  it  happen  that  Calvinism  at  last  gained  control? 

Describe  the  early  life  and  preaching  of  Guy  De  Bres. 

Why  did  he  write  the  Belgic  Confession? 

WEhom  did  he  consult  in  writing  it? 

How  was  it  adopted  as  the  creed  of  the  Netherlands? 

Describe  the  later  preaching  of  Guy  De  Bres. 

Describe  his  martyrdom. 

Why  did  William  of  Orange  become  the  defender  of  the 
Netherlands? 

What  capture  roused  the  Netherlands  to  resistance? 

Describe  the  sieges  of  Haarlem  and  Leyden. 

How  was  William  of  Orange  assassinated? 

What  was  the  character  of  William  of  Orange? 


CHAPTER  VI 
The  Reformed  Reformers  of  Germany 

I.  Bucer  and  Strassburg. 

The  original  Protestant  Church  in  Germany  was  Luth- 
eran, and  that  Church  is  still  the  largest  there.  But  very 
soon  the  Reformed  doctrines  began  to  appear.  They  ap- 
peared about  the  same  time  at  two  places,  at  Emden,  in 
northwestern  Germany,  and  at  Strassburg,  in  southwestern 
Germany.  Strassburg  was  one  of  the  free  cities  of  Ger- 
many, and  therefore  had  greater  freedom  to  receive  doc- 
trines from  abroad  than  the  imperial  cities,  where  in  re- 
ligion the  law  was,  "like  prince,  like  people."  Strassburg 
lies  on  a  flat  plain  a  few  miles  west  of  the  Rhine,  and  its 
tall  cathedral  spire  can  be  seen  for  many  miles  around. 
Like  that  church  spire,  Strassburg  became  a  finger  pointing 
heavenward,  as  it  exerted  a  wide  influence  for  Protestantism 
in  western  Germany. 

II.  His  Birth  and  Youth. 

The  Reformer  of  Strassburg  was  Bucer.  Though 
around  him  were  gathered  several  other  Reformers,  as 
Zell  and  Capito,  yet  he  was  the  leader.  He  was  born  at 
Schlettstadt,  in  Alsace,  November  11,  1491.  At  the  Latin 
school  there  he  soon  showed  such  precocity  that  his  friends 
prophesied  that  he  would  become  pope  if  he  could.  But 
a  better  sphere  was  to  open  up  to  him, — that  of  a  Re- 
former. At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  entered  the  Dominican 
monastery  there.  In  1516  he  was  transferred  to  Heidelberg, 
where  he  could  enjoy  the  advantages  of  the  university.  At 
Heidelberg  he  seems  to  have  come  into  contact  with  human- 
ism and  to  have  become  a  humanist. 

III.  His  Conversion  to  Protestantism. 

In  1518  Luther  came  to  Heidelberg  on  a  tour  of  visita- 
tion to  his  order,  and  held  a  disputation.  Although  Luther 
belonged  to  a  rival  order  of  monks,  the  Augustinian,  yet 

101 


102  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

Bucer,  though  a  Dominican,  attended  the  disputation. 
Luther's  address  produced  a  piofound  impression  in  south- 
western Germany,  hut  on  no  one  did  it  make  more  impres- 
sion than  on  Bucer.  Its  truths  came  like  a  revelation  to 
him.  He  was  at  once  won,  and  a  private  conference  which 
he  then  held  with  Luther  deepened  the  impression  already 
made.  Luther,  it  is  said,  was  so  pleased  with  him  that 
he  declared  that  "Bucer  was  the  only  Dominican  without 
guile."  But  for  a  Dominican  to  become  a  follower  of 
Luther  was,  at  that  time,  considered  a  contradiction.  The 
Dominicans  not  only  opposed  Luther  because  he  was  an 
Augustinian,  but  they  upheld  Tetzel,  the  seller  of  indul- 
gences in  Germany,  whom  Luther  so  bitterly  attacked, 
because  he  was  a  Dominican.  So  Bucer,  for  his  Evan- 
gelical leanings,  was  compelled  to  leave  his  order.  But 
where  should  he  go?  In  the  early  Reformation  it  was  hard 
to  find  an  asylum  for  Protestants.  Finally  he  found  a 
refuge  with  Count  Francis  of  Sickingen,  who  was  favorable 
to  the  Reformation.  But,  as  the  Count  was  soon  overthrown 
by  his  Catholic  enemies,  Bucer  had  to  flee,  and  went  to 
Weissenberg.  There  he  married  a  nun,  being  one  of  the 
first  of  the  Protestants  to  marry.  For  that  act  the  Bishop 
of  Weissenberg  excommunicated  him,  and  he  fled  to  Strass- 
burg  in  May,  1523. 

IV.     Bucer  at  Strassburg. 

When  he  arrived  at  Strassburg  he  found  that  the 
Evangelical  Gospel  had  already  entered  the  city.  Matthew 
Zell,  the  preacher  at  the  cathedral,  had,  as  early  as  1521, 
begun  to  preach  it  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Lawrence  in  the 
cathedral.  And  when  that  chapel  became  too  small,  he 
preached  it  in  the  cathedral.  When  the  Catholic  bishop 
locked  the  pulpit  there  against  him,  the  carpenters  of  a 
neighboring  street  made- a  portable  wooden  pulpit,  which 
was  carried  into  the  cathedral  whenever  he  preached,  and 
carried  out  when  he  was  done.  In  1523  Zell  completed  the 
breach  with  Rome  by  marrying.    His  wife,  Catharine,  was  a 


BUCER    AT    STRASSBURG  103 

woman  of  forceful  character.*  She  made  his  home  a  refuge 
for  all  persecuted  Protestants  who  came  to  Strassburg,  as 
Parel  and  Calvin.  Zwingli  stayed  with  her  on  his  way  to 
Marburg.  She  was  also  the  first  female  authoress  of  the 
Reformed  Church,  and  she  proved  such  a  defender  of  Prot- 
estantism that  Catholic  leaders  hesitated  to  break  a  lance 
with  her.  Zell  in  the  same  year  (1523)  introduced  the 
Protestant  Lord's  Supper  in  the  cathedral. 

Then,  after  Zell  had  begun  this  work,  Capito  had  come 
to  Strassburg  from  Basle  and  Mayence,  where  he  had  been 
cathedral  preacher.  He  became  pastor  of  St.  Thomas' 
Church  at  Strassburg.  At  Basle  he  had  been  in  sympathy 
with  Erasmus  and  Ecolampadius.  His  great  ability  is 
shown  in  that  he  possessed  a  three-fold  academic  degree  of 
doctor,  in  medicine,  law  and  theology.  Still  another  Prot- 
estant of  Strassburg  was  a  prominent  layman,  Jacob  Sturm, 
who  belonged  to  a  family  that  for  more  than  two  centuries 
had  given  Strassburg  her  ablest  magistrates.  In  1522 
Sturm  was  made  mayor  of  the  city,  and  held  it  many  years 
afterward.  Prom  1525  to  1552  he  was  Strassburg's  repre- 
sentative in  ninety-one  political  and  religious  negotiations. 

These  were  the  leaders  who  had  labored  at  Strassburg 
before  Bucer  came  there.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  Bucer 
declared  that  Strassburg  was  ready  for  an  overflowing  har- 
vest. Bucer  came  there  to  complete  the  Reformation  and 
become  the  leader.  But  at  first  his  work  was  very  much 
circumscribed,  as  the  city  council  would  not  permit  him  to 
lecture  publicly  because  he  was  an  excommunicated  priest. 
So  he  began  delivering  lectures  in  Zell's  house  on  the 
Pastoral  Epistles.  But  he  had  the  missionary  spirit,  and 
it  was  hard  to  keep  him  from  preaching.  A  few  months 
later  he  was  permitted  by  Zell  to  preach  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
chapel  of  the  cathedral.  His  services  continually  increased 
in  popularity.    As  the  bishop  refused  to  permit  him  to  preach 

*  See  Good,  "Famous  Women  of  the  Reformed  Church," 
pages  45-54. 


104  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

from  the  pulpit,  Zell  loaned  him  his  wooden  pulpit.  The 
Catholics  tried  to  stop  his  preaching.  One  day,  while  he 
was  preaching  in  the  cathedral,  the  monks  in  the  choir  of 
the  cathedral  began  singing  their  service  so  as  to  drown 
his  voice.  Bucer's  audience  murmured  at  this,  and  one  of 
them  went  to  the  monks  and  advised  them  to  wait  until 
Bucer  was  through.  But  the  monks  defended  their  course, 
and  as  a  result  a  riot  was  imminent  between  the  two  con- 
gregations. Bucer's  congregation  picked  up  their  seats 
and  foot-stools  for  use  against  the  insolent  monks;  when 
just  then  the  chief  magistrate  appeared.  Both  parties  were 
ordered  to  appear  before  the  city  council  the  next  day. 
The  threatened  riot  brought  matters  to  a  crisis  favorable 
to  the  Protestants;  for  the  city  council  ordered  that  nothing 
but  the  pure  Gospel  should  be  preached. 

The  next  year  (1524)  completed  the  Reformation  in 
Strassburg.  Bucer  was  elected  pastor  of  the  church  of 
St.  Aurelian,  and  became  a  great  home  missionary  for  the 
city.  This  church  had  St.  Aurelian's  tomb  in  it,  which  was 
famous  for  its  wonder-working  cures,  and  to  which  many 
pilgrimages  were  made.  Bucer  preached  against  all  these 
Romish  practices,  and  also  had  the  wonder-working  body  of 
the  saint  removed.  On  February  16,  1524,  Swartz,  Zell's 
assistant,  read  the  first  mass  in  German  instead  of  Latin, 
in  the  St.  John's  chapel  of  the  cathedral,  and  on  Easter  of 
that  year  the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered  after  the 
Protestant  fashion  in  most  of  the  churches. 

V.     Bucer's  Great  Influence. 

Bucer  was  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  Reformers, 
lie  emphasized  the  doctrine  of  election,  not  in  a  meta- 
physical sense,  but  as  a  definition  of  the  "Church."  which  he 
said  was  "composed  of  the  elect,"  meaning  by  that,  of  the 
saints.  He  thus  emphasized  the  practical  side  of  election. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Calvin  re-wrote  his  "Institutes 
of  Theology"  here,  in  which  he  made  election  more  promi- 
nent.    Bucer.  too,  was  the  first  to   introduce  church  disci- 


BUCER,  A  UNION  MAN  105 

pline  and  excommunication  as  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
Reformed  Church.  We  have  seen  how  Calvin  followed  him 
in  trying  to  get  it  introduced  into  Geneva.  The  truth  was 
that,  before  Calvin  came,  Bucer  had  come  into  controversy 
with  Anabaptism,  which  threatened  to  become  victorious  in 
Strassburg.  Bucer  gained  the  victory  over  the  Anabaptists, 
but  felt  that  they  were  right  on  the  subject  of  church  disci- 
pline, and  so  he  tried  to  have  it  introduced  into  the 
churches.  We  have  also  noted  before,  that  in  the  matter 
of  worship,  Calvin  but  followed  the  method  laid  down  in 
Strassburg.  We  thus  see  that  in  many  respects  Bucer  was 
one  of  the  most  influential  of  the  Reformers. 

VI.  Bucer  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

Bucer  at  first  was  a  whole-souled  follower  of  Luther, 
but  of  Luther  in  his  early  period,  when  Luther  emphasized 
the  subjective  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  When,  later,  Luther 
began  to  emphasize  the  bodily  presence  of  Christ  in  the 
Supper,  Bucer  could  not  follow  him.  For  he,  like  Zwingli, 
had  been  a  humanist,  and  his  mind  demanded  a  view  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  that  was  not  encumbered  with  so  many  ra- 
tional difficulties.  He,  therefore,  inclined  to  the  Zwinglian 
view.  In  1525  Luther  was  not  satisfied  with  Bucer's  state- 
ments, and  Bucer  was  charged  with  departing  from  Luth- 
eranism  on  this  doctrine.  So  Bucer  went  over  to  the  Swiss, 
and  at  the  Conference  at  Marburg,  1529,  he  was  rated  among 
the  Zwinglians.  Luther  there  pointed  his  finger  at  him 
and  said,  "You  are  a  knave."  At  the  diet  of  Augsburg 
(1530)  he  was,  therefore,  not  allowed  to  sign  the  Augsburg 
Confession.  So  he  drew  up  and  presented  the  "Confession 
of  the  Pour  Cities,"  whose  statements  on  the  Supper  were 
Lutheran  but  could  include  the  Reformed  within  them. 

VII.  Bucer  as  a  Union  Man. 

Even  before  the  death  of  Zwingli,  Bucer  began  to 
swerve  from  the  Zwinglian  view.  He  became  the  great 
mediator  between  the  Lutherans  and  Zwinglians  on  this 
doctrine.    After  much  labor  on  his  part,  he  finally  succeeded 


106  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

(1536)  in  getting  Luther  to  agree  to  a  compromise  creed 
called  the  Wittenberg  Concord.  Its  phraseology  on  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  Lutheran,  but  it  could  be  made  to  cover 
the  Reformed  view  also.  He  then  tried  to  have  this  creed 
adopted  by  the  Swiss,  but  in  vain.  For  they  considered 
that  Bucer  was  juggling  with  words  in  his  phraseology  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  instead  of  being  clear  and  outspoken. 
The  truth  was  he  was  no  longer  truly  Reformed,  and  was 
so  considered  by  Bullinger  and  the  Swiss,  who  refused  to 
adopt  his  Wittenberg  Concord. 

VIII.  Buccr's  Work  at  Strassburg. 

Bucer  tried  in  every  way  to  build  up  the  Church  at 
Strassburg.  The  beginnings  of  a  university  were  made  in 
his  day,  and  John  Sturm  (who  was  Reformed),  one  of  the 
greatest  educators  of  his  day,  was  called  to  it.  He,  with 
Melancthon,  were  the  two  most  famous  teachers  in  Ger- 
many; so  that  they  were  called  "the  two  eyes  of  Germany." 
But  in  1548  the  Interim  was  ordered  to  be  introduced  into 
Strassburg.  According  to  this,  various  Catholic  rites  were 
to  be  re-introduced  into  the  Protestant  churches.  Now, 
while  Bucer  was  yielding  toward  Protestants,  he  was  firm 
as  a  rock  against  the  abuses  of  Catholicism.  He  declared 
"man  dares  do  nothing  against  conscience  and  the  truth." 
So  he  resigned.  Fortunately,  a  call  came  to  him  from  Eng- 
land, and  he  went  there  in  1549.  After  his  departure,  Strass- 
burg became  high  Lutheran.  The  Reformed  were  driven 
out,  and  for  two  centuries  were  not  permitted  to  worship 
there. 

IX.  The  Reformation  in  England. 

England,  like  the  countries  on  the  continent,  had  begun 
to  feel  the  movements  toward  Protestantism.  King  Henry 
VIII  fell  out  witli  t he  Pope  because  he  could  not  get  a 
divorce  from  his  queen  so  that  he  might  marry  Anne  Boleyn. 
He,  therefore,  declared  the  Church  of  England  independent 
of  the  Pope,  and  made  himself  the  head  of  it.  He  sup- 
pressed the  monasteries  because  they  were  so  powerful  and 


WILLIAM    TYNDALE  107 

also  so  wicked.  But,  although  he  broke  with  the  Pope,  he 
was  not  willing  to  become  a  Protestant.  Indeed,  he  perse- 
cuted and  martyred  Protestants.  Thus  William  Tyndale, 
who  had  become  a  Protestant,  was  compelled  to  flee.  Tyn- 
dale, angered  in  a  controversy  with  a  priest,  had  declared 
that  every  plough-boy  in  England  should  have  a  copy  of  the 
Scriptures.  As  it  would  not  have  been  safe  for  him  to 
translate  and  publish  them  in  England,  he  fled  to  the  conti- 
nent. There  he  had  the  New  Testament  published  and  sent 
back  to  England  in  large  quantities.  The  Catholics  became 
so  alarmed  that  they  tried  to  buy  up  the  whole  edition. 
But  the  money  made  in  this  way  only  enabled  the  publishers 
on  the  continent  to  publish  more  copies  and  send  them  to 
England.  They  were  largely  sold  and  secretly  read.  The 
Catholics,  unable  to  stop  the  circulation  of  his  Testament, 
hunted  for  Tyndale,  and  soon  were  hot  on  his  track.  He 
was  finally  treacherously  arrested  at  Antwerp,  taken  to 
Vilvorde,  and  there  put  to  death,  October  6,  1536.  His  last 
words  were,  "O,  Lord,  open  the  King  of  England's  eyes." 
This  prayer  was  answered,  for  King  Henry  VIII  began  to 
see  that  his  only  safety  over  against  the  Pope  lay  in  the 
Bible,  and  Coverdale  was  commissioned  to  publish  a  trans- 
lation. So  that  by  the  time  of  the  King's  death,  the  Bible 
was  permitted  in  England;  and,  of  course,  through  it  Prot- 
estantism grew  rapidly  In  1547  the  King  died,  and  his 
son,  Edward  VI,  reigned  in  his  stead.  He  was  a  Protestant, 
and  with  his  accession  Protestantism  came  in  everywhere. 
The  leaders  of  the  Reformation  in  England  were  Cranmer, 
Archbishop   of  Canterbury,   Ridley,   Latimer,*   and   Hooper. 

*  The  conversion  of  Latimer  is  interesting  as  showing 
how  a  Catholic  rite  can  be  used  to  make  a  Protestant  out 
of  a  Catholic.  Bilney  had  been  converted,  and  in  order 
to  bring  the  Evangelical  Gospel  to  his  friend,  Latimer,  he 
made  a  confession  in  the  confessional  to  Latimer.  When 
Latimer  heard  Bilney's  story  of  forgiven  sin,  he,  too,  was 
converted. 


108  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

X.     Bucer  in  England. 

But  among  the  Protestants  there  was  a  great  lack  of 
scholars  able  to  meet  the  Romanizers  in  the  Anglican 
Church.  So  Cranmer  invited  a  number  of  the  Reformers 
of  the  continent  to  come  to  England.  Peter  Martyr,  Bucer, 
and  Fagius  went  there.  Bucer,  with  true  Evangelistic  zeal, 
was  glad  to  go  and  convert  this  distant  land  to  Christ,  and 
when  he  arrived  in  England  was  cordially  received  by 
Cranmer  and  the  British  Reformers.  He  was  appointed  pro- 
fessor of  theology  at  Cambridge,  and  began  lecturing  there 
on  January  10,  1550.  His  lectures  were  such  a  rare  com- 
bination of  learning  and  spirituality  that  they  gave  great 
satisfaction.  In  the  summer  of  1550  he  was  the  leader  in 
a  disputation  at  Cambridge,  for  the  Catholics  in  the  Anglican 
Church  were  still  strong,  and  they  tried  to  have  as  many 
elements  of  Catholicism  remain  as  possible.  About  this 
time  the  Prayer-book  of  the  Anglican  Church  was  revised, 
first  in  1549,  and  again  in  1552.  The  first  was  very  unsatis- 
factory to  Protestants  because  there  were  so  many  relics  of 
Catholicism  left  in  the  worship.  Bucer  was  asked  to  pass 
criticism  on  it,  which  he  did  in  a  lengthy  pamphlet.  While 
he  approved  of  much  of  it,  he  yet  criticized  it  for  having 
Catholic  elements  in  it.  And  its  revision  of  1552  agrees 
with  a  number  of  his  recommendations,  although  the  lead- 
ing Anglican  historians  of  the  Prayer-book  deny  that  his 
criticism  had  much  to  do  with  these  changes.  At  any  rate, 
the  second  Prayer-book  was  nearer  the  worship  of  the 
Reformed. 

But  it  was  still  far  from  Reformed  worship,  as  is  shown 
by  the  later  dissatisfaction  with  it  by  the  Reformed  Reform- 
ers, Peter  Martyr,  Calvin,  and  Bullinger.  This  dissatisfac- 
tion of  the  Reformed  with  the  Prayer-book  was  also  shown 
by  the  fact  that  two  Reformed  liturgies  were  also  published 
in  England  just  at  the  time  that  the  Prayer-book  was 
published.  If  the  Reformed  had  been  satisfied  with  the 
Prayer-book,  why  did  they  publish  these?  They  were  the 
liturgies  of  Poullain  and  Lasco.     Lasco's  especially  stands 


BUCER'S   DEATH  109 

out  in  contrast  with  the  Prayer-book,  for  he,  with  Bishop 
Hooper,  was  the  leader  of  the  Puritan  party  in  England. 
They  wanted  less  form  and  more  freedom  in  the  church 
service,  and  also  stricter  church  discipline  than  was  in  the 
Prayer-book.  The  Reformed  have  generally  followed  Lasco 
(and  also  Knox)  rather  than  the  Prayer-book,  in  that  free 
worship  became  common  in  the  Reformed  Churches  ulti- 
mately. 

XI.  Bucers  Death. 

But  Bucer  did  not  live  long  in  England, — only  two 
years.  Its  damp  climate  did  not  agree  with  him.  He  died 
March  1,  1551.  He  was  buried  with  great  honor  at  Cam- 
bridge. It  is  said  that  not  less  than  three  thousand  persons 
took  part  in  the  funeral.  His  body,  however,  was  not  al- 
lowed to  rest  in  peace,  for  when  Queen  Mary  came  to  the 
throne  she  ordered  the  bodies  of  Bucer  and  his  fellow-Re- 
former, Pagius,  to  be  disinterred.  They  were  condemned 
for  heresy,  and  were  burned  in  the  market-place  at  Cam- 
bridge, together  with  their  published  works.  But  when 
Queen  Elizabeth  succeeded  Queen  Mary,  and  the  university 
had  again  become  Protestant,  a  memorial  service  was  held 
to  Bucer  and  Pagius.  They  could  not  gather  up  the  ashes 
of  their  bodies,  but  they  gathered  up  their  teachings  and 
paid  tribute  to  their  lives  and  influence. 

XII.  Bucers  Position  Among  the  Reformers. 

Bucer  stands  out  among  the  Reformers  as  the  Union 
Reformer — the  great  representative  of  Church  union.  He 
cared  more  for  union  among  Protestants  than  for  any  of 
its  doctrines.  The  Reformed  criticized  him  for  not  being 
clear  in  his  doctrines,  especially  on  the  Lord's  Supper. 
Indeed,  Bucer,  when  he  died,  was  busy  on  a  work  on  the 
sacraments  against  Lasco,  who  represented  the  Reformed.* 
Bucer  was  ready  to  sacrifice  much  for  sake  of  union. 
He  was,  therefore,  the  Broad  Churchman  of  the  Reforma- 

*  Harvey,  "Bucer  in  England,"  page  53. 


110  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

tion.  He  was  so  broad  in  his  theology  that  he  was  ready 
to  take  all  true  Protestants  in.  He  is  to  be  admired  for  his 
peace-loving  disposition,  but  criticized  in  that  he  was  so 
often  concessive  where  he  should  have  been  firm.  And  his 
theological  statements  are  often  double  in  their  meaning, 
so  as  to  suit  both  parties.  But  he  exerted  an  important  and 
peculiar  influence  in  the  Reformation  on  its  doctrine,  wor- 
ship and  government. 

XIII.  Elector  Frederick  III  and  the  Heidelberg  Catechism. 
The  Reformed  Church  was  later  introduced  into  another 

place  in  Germany  than  Strassburg.  Elector  Frederick  III, 
the  ruler  of  the  Palatinate,  in  western  Germany,  ordered 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism  (so  called  because  published  at 
Heidelberg)  to  be  written,  and  it  was  published  at  Heideh 
berg,  his  capital,  in  1563.  His  surname  was  Frederick  the 
Pious,  because  he  was  a  man  of  great  piety.  He  was  an 
earnest  student  of  the  Bible  and  a  man  of  much  prayer. 
This  prince,  for  the  sake  of  producing  peace  between  the 
different  religious  parties  in  the  Church  of  his  land,  ordered 
that  this  new  catechism  should  be  written,  and  appointed 
two  young  theologians  of  his  Church  to  write  it, — Zacharias 
Ursinus   and   Casper   Olevianus. 

XIV.  Ursinus'  Birth  and  Education. 

Ursinus  was  an  east  German,  born  at  Breslau,  July  18, 
1534.  He  was  educated  there,  having  for  his  pastor  the 
mild  and  pious  Ambrose  Moibanus,  whose  catechism  he 
studied  for  confirmation,  and  some  elements  of  which  he 
put  into  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  written  about  fifteen 
years  later.  When  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  went  to  the 
university  of  Wittenberg,  to  sit  at  Melancthon's  feet  and 
became  a  great  admirer  of  him.  The  Lutheran  Church  of 
Germany  was  at  that  time  greatly  divided  between  high 
Lutherans  and  low  Lutherans.  Melancthon  was  the  leader 
of  the  latter.  While  Ursinus  was  studying  in  the  uni- 
versity, he  was  financially  aided  by  a  native  of  Breslau. 
one  of  the  leading  physicians  of  Germany,  Crato  of  Crafft- 


URSINUS'    EARLY    LIFE  111 

heim,  who  was  the  private  physician  to  three  of  the 
Emperors  of  Germany.  He  had  entered  the  university 
before  Ursinus,  expecting  to  become  a  minister,  but  had 
been  turned  away  from  it.  So  he  wanted  to  put  some  one 
in  his  place  in  the  ministry,  and  aided  Ursinus.  Money 
thus  invested  in  the  Church  is  safely  and  profitably  in- 
vested. Ursinus  amply  repaid  his  kindness  by  becoming 
one  of  the  leading  theologians  of  his  day.  Indeed,  he  be- 
came the  spiritual  guide  of  Crato,  whom  he  won  to  the 
Reformed   faith. 

After  studying  at  Wittenberg  for  seven  years,  he  began 
traveling.  In  1557  he  went  to  the  Conference  at  Worms, 
where  his  teacher,  Melancthon,  had  gone  as  the  leader  of 
the  Protestants.  He  then  visited  Heidelberg,  Strassburg, 
Basle,  Lausanne,  and  then  Geneva.  Everywhere,  because 
introduced  by  Melancthon,  he  was  kindly  received.  At 
every  place  he  had  his  eyes  open  so  as  to  improve  himself 
theologically.  At  Geneva,  Calvin  was  so  pleased  with  him 
that  he  presented  him  with  one  of  his  works.  He  went 
to  Paris,  and  on  his  return  stopped  at  Zurich  and  learned 
to  know  Bullinger  and  Peter  Martyr  there.  Fries,  the 
professor  of  Hebrew  there,  invited  him  to  come  to  Zurich 
if  he  ever  needed  a  refuge.  He  then  returned  through  Wit- 
tenberg to  Breslau,  his  birthplace. 

XV.     Ursinus  at  Breslau. 

He  was  appointed  teacher  in  the  school  of  the  Church 
in  which  he  had  been  confirmed,  St.  Elizabeth's  Church. 
There  he  taught  for  two  years.  But  he  soon  found  them 
years  of  trouble,  for  the  breach  in  the  Lutheran  Church 
had  reached  Breslau  and  had  become  very  bitter.  Ursinus, 
being  a  follower  of  Melancthon,  was  severely  attacked  by 
the  high  Lutherans.  The  high  Lutherans  declared  that 
their  opponents  were  not  Lutherans,  and  charged  that 
Ursinus  did  not  teach  Lutheran  doctrine.  They  looked 
with  suspicion  on  Ursinus,  not  only  because  he  had  been  a 
pupil  of  Melancthon's,  and  used  one  of  his  works  as  a  text- 


112  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

book,  but  also  because  he  had  been  traveling  in  Reformed 
lands.  Ursinus,  therefore,  published  a  pamphlet  on  the 
sacraments  in  defense  of  his  views.  But  his  publication 
only  made  matters  worse.  His  enemies  seized  on  certain 
passages  in  his  pamphlet  to  show  that  he  was  Reformed 
and  not  Lutheran.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that,  although 
his  pamphlet  was  Melancthonian,  yet  there  were  undoubt- 
edly outcroppings  of  Calvinism  in  it.  In  his  travels  he 
had  unconsciously  imbibed  some  Reformed  views.  The  re- 
sult of  these  attacks  on  him  was  that  he  resigned  and  left 
Breslau.  But  where  should  he  go?  He  said  that  if  Melanc- 
thon  were  living  he  would  have  gone  to  him  at  Wittenberg, 
but  Melancthon  had  just  died.  He  went  to  Wittenberg, 
where  the  university  professors  would  have  gladly  detained 
him  as  teacher.     But  he  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  Zurich. 

XVI.  Ursinus  at  Zurich. 

A  few  days  after  he  arrived  at  Zurich  he  wrote  a 
letter  which  stated  that  he  had  come  to  full  agreement  with 
the  Reformed.  He  there  studied  at  the  feet  of  Peter  Martyr. 
He  thoroughly  reviewed  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  espe- 
cially election,  and  in  the  light  of  the  Bible  became  strongly 
Reformed  in  his  faith.  In  1561  the  Elector  of  the  Palatinate 
called  Peter  Martyr  to  be  professor  of  theology  at  the  uni- 
versity of  Heidelberg.  He,  however,  declined,  but  recom- 
mended Ursinus.  Ursinus  accepted,  and  went  to  Heidelberg 
in  the  summer  of  1561.  The  next  year  he  was  appointed  to 
write  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  For  such  a  work  he  had 
been  prepared  by  providence.  For  he  had  been  teaching 
the  young  at  Breslau.  And  his  experiences  there  were  a 
special  preparation  for  him.  He  was,  by  nature,  inclined  to 
be  melancholy.  And  his  dismissal  from  Breslau  and  sepa- 
ration from  his  friends  there  greatly  dispirited  him.  These 
troubles  and  disappointments  prepared  him  to  write  a  cate- 
chism, whose  motto  is  comfort. 

XVII.  Casper  Olevianus. 

Olevianus  was  a  west  German,  born  at  Treves,  August 


OLEVIANUS'  EARLY  LIFE  113 

10,  1536.  Treves  was  one  of  the  sacred  cities  of  the  Cath- 
olics in  Germany,  because  it  was  said  to  contain  the  holy 
coat  of  Christ — the  coat  which  they  said  He  had  worn.  In 
this  most  Catholic  city  he  went  to  school  until  the  age  of 
fourteen,  when  he  was  sent  to  France  to  study  law.  From 
Paris  he  went  to  Orleans  and  Bourges  to  study,  thus  fol- 
lowing in  the  footsteps  of  Calvin,  who  had  studied  in  these 
universities.  He  seems  to  have  come  into  contact  with 
the  Protestants  in  France,  for  an  incident  decided  him  to 
study  for  the  Reformed  ministry.  One  day,  while  walking 
along  the  bank  of  one  of  the  rivers  that  flow  through 
Bourges,  together  with  the  oldest  son  of  Elector  Frederick 
III  of  the  Palatinate,  who  was  also  a  student  there,  several 
German  students  of  the  nobility  came  in  a  boat  to  them 
and  invited  them  to  take  a  boat-ride.  Unfortunately  the 
prince  accepted  the  invitation,  and  fortunately  Olevianus 
declined.  For  the  students,  some  of  them  being  under  the 
influence  of  liquor,  began  rocking  the  boat  so  that  it  over- 
turned and  threw  them  into  the  river.  Olevianus  leaped 
into  the  water  to  save  the  prince,  and  almost  lost  his  life 
in  the  attempt.  While  he  was  thus  hanging  between  life 
and  death,  he  made  a  vow  that  if  God  would  spare  his 
life  he  would  become  a  minister.  God  heard  his  prayer, 
for  a  servant  of  the  prince,  who  came  running  to  the 
rescue,  unable  to  save  his  master,  saved  Olevianus.  From 
that  time  Olevianus  became  an  earnest  student  of  the  Bible. 
After  a  brief  visit  home,  he  went  to  Geneva  and  studied 
theology  under  Calvin. 

XVIII.     Olevianus  at  Treves. 

While  he  was  in  Switzerland  he  met  Farel,  that  fiery 
herald  of  the  Gospel.  Farel  told  him  it  was  his  duty  to  go 
back  to  his  native  city,  Treves,  and  start  Protestantism 
there.  So  in  June,  1559,  he  returned  to  Treves  to  do  what 
might  be  called  foreign  missionary  work.  For  Catholic 
Treves  was  as  foreign  to  the  Gospel  as  Ecuador  to-day.  It 
seemed  a  foolhardy  thing  for  a  young  theological  student 


114  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

to  try  to  convert  so  intensely  Catholic  a  city  as  Treves. 
It  seemed  like  putting  his  head  into  the  lion's  mouth,  and, 
as  we  shall  see,  the  jaws  of  the  lion  of  Rome  very  nearly 
closed  over  him.* 

When  he  returned  to  Treves  he  became  a  teacher;  and, 
finding  that  there  were  a  number  of  persons  who  wanted 
Protestant  preaching,  he,  on  August  10,  preached  the  first 
Protestant  sermon  in  his  school.  Forbidden  to  preach  in 
his  school  his  friends  found  a  small  church  for  him,  which 
soon  became  so  crowded  that  the  people  sat  on  the  pulpit 
steps  and  put  up  ladders  outside  at  the  windows  so  as  to  be 
able  to  hear  him.  But  the  Catholics  became  active  against 
him.  Charges  were  preferred  against  him  that,  as  a  lay- 
man, he  had  no  right  to  preach.  His  adherents  replied  that, 
according  to  the  German  law  of  1555,  the  Protestants,  who 
adhered  to  the  Augsburg  Confession,  had  the  right  to  wor- 
ship, which  was  true.  But  then  the  Catholics  brought 
charges  that  Olevianus  was  not  a  Lutheran  and  an  adherent 
of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  but  was  a  Calvinist,  because 
he  had  studied  under  Calvin;  and  Calvinism  had  no  legal 
standing  in  Germany.  He,  however,  continued  preaching 
with  great  power,  so  that  in  about  a  month  one-third  of  the 
city  declared  its  adherence  to  Protestantism.  He  must  have 
been  a  remarkable  preacher  for  so  young  a  man.  Several 
times  he  was  called  before  the  Electoral  council  there  and 
forbidden  to  preach.  He,  nevertheless,  kept  on  preaching, 
declaring  that  he  must  obey  God  rather  than  man. 

But  by  September  16,  the  Elector  who  ruled  Treves, 
alarmed  at  the  progress  of  Protestantism,  returned  to  the 
city  from  Augsburg,  where  he  had  been  attending  the  Ger- 
man diet.  And  he  brought  soldiers  with  him  to  enforce 
the  Catholic  worship.  He  sent  a  Catholic  priest  to  Olevi- 
anus' church  to  steal  in  and  take  his  place  in  the  pulpit. 

*  For  a  fuller  description  of  Olevianus  at  Treves,  see 
Good,  "The  Heidelberg  Catechism  in  Its  Newest  Light," 
pages  201-241. 


OLEVIANUS  AT  TREVES  115 

The  priest  came  there  before  Olevianus  and  went  up  into 
the  pulpit.  But  the  congregation  rose  against  him,  and  he 
was  in  danger  of  being  mobbed,  when  Olevianus,  who  had 
meanwhile  entered  the  church,  led  him  out  in  safety.  It, 
however,  was  becoming  very  dangerous  for  Olevianus  to 
preach.  One  day,  after  he  had  been  forbidden  to  preach, 
he  asked  the  congregation  whether  they  would  stand  by 
him  if  the  priests  would  try  to  lay  hands  on  him.  The 
reply  of  the  congregation  was  t7iat  they  would  stand  by 
him  "through  thick  and  thin."  It  became  so  dangerous 
for  him  that  he  was  escorted  to  and  from  the  church  by  an 
armed  bodyguard  of  his  friends. 

On  October  11,  Olevianus  and  the  leaders  of  the  Prot- 
estants were  imprisoned.  The  charges  against  them  were 
heresy  and  conspiracy,  both  of  them  high  crimes  and  punish- 
able with  death.  He  and  his  friends  would  probably  have 
suffered  death  had  it  not  been  for  the  intercession  of  the 
neighboring  Protestant  princes.  They  were  finally  released 
by  Christmas  and  exiled,  as  were  all  Protestants  in  Treves. 
Olevianus  went  to  Heidelberg,  where  the  Elector,  who  re- 
membered his  friendship  for  his  son  (who  had  been  drowned 
at  Treves),  made  him  professor  of  theology  and  afterward 
superintendent  of  his  Church  in  the  Palatinate.  This  ex- 
perience at  Treves  prepared  him  to  write  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism.  If  Ursinus  had  learned  the  comfort  of  religion 
in  sorrow  so  as  to  write  it  into  the  catechism,  Olevianus 
had  learned  the  courage  of  religion,  and  he  infused  it  into 
the  catechism.  One  can  understand  the  martial  answer  of 
the  catechism  to  the  question,  "Why  art  thou  called  a 
Christian?"  when  we  remember  his  threatened  martyrdom 
at  Treves. 

XIX.     The  Heidelberg   Catechism. 

These  were  the  two  men  appointed  by  Elector  Frederick 
III  to  write  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  In  spite  of  their 
youth  (the  one  was  only  twenty-eight,  and  the  other  only 
twenty-six  years  of  age),  they  produced  in  the  catechism 


116  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

a  work  finer  than  either  of  them  produced  alone, — in  fact, 
one  of  the  finest  masterpieces  of  catechetical  literature 
extant.  It  is  the  great  experimental  catechism  of  Protestant- 
ism. Luther's  Smaller  Catechism  is  briefer,  but  more  sac- 
ramentarian.  Calvin's  and  the  Shorter  Westminster  Cate- 
chism are  more  intellectual.  But  the  Heidelberg  is  the 
great  catechism  of  the  heart.  This  catechism,  which  was 
written  in  1562,  was  laid  before  the  synod  in  January,  1563, 
and  published  early  in  that  year.  It  soon  became  one  of 
the  great  creeds  of  the  Reformed  Church,  rivaled  only,  by 
the  Second  Helvetic  Confession  and  the  Westminster  Confes- 
sions. It  has  been  a  great  missionary  catechism,  and  for 
this  purpose  has  been  translated  into  nearly  thirty  lan- 
guages. It  is  to-day  used  in  many  foreign  mission  stations, 
as  Japan,   China,   India,  etc. 

XX.     Elector  Frederick's  Defense  of  the  Catechism. 

Elector  Frederick  was  not  left  at  ease  with  his  new 
Catechism.  It  was  attacked  almost  immediately  by  the  high 
Lutherans  as  tending  to  Calvinism.  Finally  the  opposition 
to  the  Catechism  became  so  great,  that  in  1566  Elector 
Frederick  III  was  compelled  to  publicly  defend  it  before 
the  German  diet  at  Augsburg.  So  great  was  the  danger  to 
Frederick  that  his  brother  urged  him  not  to  go  to  the  diet, 
lest  he  lose  his  electorate,  and  perhaps  his  life.  In  fact, 
while  he  was  at  Augsburg,  a  rumor  came  to  Heidelberg 
that  he  had  been  deposed,  yes,  beheaded.  But  Frederick 
had  the  martyr  spirit.  He  declared  that  he  was  ready  to 
loose  everything  for  his  faith,  for  he  believed  his  catechism 
to  be  thoroughly  Biblical.  So  he  went  to  the  diet.  He 
arrived  a  short  time  after  it  had  opened,  and  found  it  packed 
against  him,  as  the  Catholics  had  joined  with  the  high 
Lutherans,  who  were  determined  that  he  must  give  up  his 
catechism  or  lose  his  realm.  Only  one  friend  among  them 
at  all  stood  up  for  him,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  who,  like 
him,  was  a  low  Lutheran.  The  charge  against  him  was 
that  the  only  Protestant  creed  recognized  by  law  in  Germany 


ELECTOR  FREDERICK'S  DEFENSE       117 

was  the  Augsburg  Confession,  and  that  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism was  a  Reformed  creed  and  therefore  had  no  legal 
standing.  This  was  true,  for  the  Reformed  had  no  legal 
standing  in  Germany  until  at  the  end  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  (1648),  nearly  a  century  later.  Remembering  these 
facts — that  he  stood  virtually  alone  with  the  whole  diet 
against  him,  and  that  the  verbiage  of  the  German  law  was 
against  him  (although  its  application  was  somewhat  indefi- 
nite)— we  can  look  with  greater  wonder  and  also  greater 
thankfulness  at  the  splendid  victory  that  he  gained  there.* 
The  14th  of  May,  1566,  is  a  red-letter  day  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism;  for  on  that  day  Frederick, 
summoned  before  the  diet  to  answer  for  his  book,  made  his 
great  defense.  The  Emperor  and  the  different  members  of 
the  diet  had  already  decided  on  his  condemnation.  It  only 
remained  for  the  diet  to  give  its  sanction.  He  came  into 
the  diet  chamber,  his  son,  John  Casimir,  carrying  the 
Bible  before  him.  In  his  address  he  declared  that,  as  for 
Calvinism,  he  had  not  read  Calvin's  works.  But  he  also 
added  that  his  catechism  was  entirely  in  accord  with  the 
Bible  and  with  the  Augsburg  Confession.*  If  it  were  not 
Biblical,  he  asked  the  Emperor  and  the  princes  to  show  it 
to  him.  And  if  he  were  punished,  he  declared  himself 
willing  to  suffer.  But  none  of  his  listeners  were  ready  to 
take  up  the  controversy  with  a  man  so  full  of  the  Bible  as 
he  was.  Moreover,  his  address,  by  its  sincerity,  spirituality 
and  courage,  so  awed  the  assembly  that,  when  he  ended, 
the  impression  he  had  made  was  so  profound  that  no  one 
could   reply.     His   solitary   friend,   the   Elector   of   Saxony, 

*  For  a  full  description  of  this  defense,  see  Good,  "The 
Heidelberg  Catechism  in  Its  Newest  Light,"  pages  184-200. 

*  He  meant  the  Altered  Augsburg  Confession  of  1540, 
whose  article  on  the  Lord's  Supper  had  been  changed  by 
Melancthon  so  as  to  allow  room  for  the  Reformed  in  it.  But 
his  opponents  argued  from  the  original  Augsburg  Confession 
of  1530,  which  would  have  excluded  the  Reformed. 


118  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

seized  the  psychological  moment  and  said,  "Fritz,  you  are 
more  pious  than  all  of  us."  The  result  was  that  nothing 
was  done  against  the  Catechism.  Its  use  was  permitted  in 
Germany,  and  as  a  result  we  in  America  are  using  it  to-day. 
But  except  for  this  magnificent  defense  of  Frederick  it 
would  have  been  strangled  almost  as  soon  as  it  was  born, 
and  we  would  have  never  known  its  comforts.  Elector 
Frederick  went  back  to  Heidelberg  from  the  diet,  and  was 
gladly  received  by  his  subjects,  many  of  whom  looked  upon 
him  as  one  risen  from  the  dead,  for  they  never  expected 
to  again  see  him  alive. 

XXI.     Ursinus'  and  Olevianus'  Last  Years. 

Elector  Frederick  III  continued  to  rule  the  Palatinate 
ten  years  after  he  made  this  defense.  He  died  October 
26,  1576.  He  had  been  a  wise,  pious  ruler,  and  under  him 
his  land  had  prospered.  Instead  of  using  his  money  for 
war,  he  used  it  to  build  up  churches,  schools  and  charities. 
When  asked  why  he  built  no  forts,  he  replied  in  the  words 
of  Luther's  hymn,  "A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God."  His 
great  comfort  in  his  last  moments  was  prayer  and  the 
reading  of  the  Psalms.  "Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant 
depart  in  peace,"  was  his  cry.  He  will  ever  be  held  in 
lasting  remembrance  by  every  one  who  loves  his  Catechism. 

When  he  died,  a  reaction  took  place  in  the  Palatinate. 
His  son  and  successor,  Lewis,  was  a  high  Lutheran.  As  a 
result,  Lutheranism  was  reintroduced  into  the  land,  and 
Ursinus  and  Olevianus  were  compelled  to  leave.  Ursinus 
was  called  to  Neustadt,  west  of  Heidelberg,  where  Count 
John  Casimir,  the  son  of  Frederick  III,  was  the  possessor  of 
a  small  county.  This  prince  founded  a  university  at  Neu- 
stadt, and  called  Ursinus,  together  with  the  other  Reformed 
professors  of  Heidelberg,  to  it.  It  greatly  flourished.  Hut 
Ursinus  was  overburdened  by  work  and  weakened  by  sick- 
ness. His  old  melancholy  came  back  on  him.  He  complained 
of  his  work  as  a  "treadmill."  He  continued  teaching  until 
death  gave  his  weary  soul  release  on  March  G,  Lis:!. 


OLEVIANUS'    DEATH  110 

Olevianus  also  left  Heidelberg,  but  was  soon  called  to 
Herborn,  and  became  a  missionary  to  introduce  tbe  Re- 
formed faith  into  the  districts  of  Nassau,  etc.,  northeast  of 
Heidelberg.  There  Prince  John  of  Nassau,  the  brother  of 
William  of  Orange,  started  a  university  and  made  Olevianus 
its  rector  or  head.  He  taught  there  until  his  death,  March 
15,  1587.  As  he  was  dying,  one  of  his  colleagues,  Professor 
Alsted,  asked  him  whether  he  felt  sure  of  his  salvation. 
He  replied  in  one  Latin  word,  "Certissimus,"  which  means 
"most  certain."  The  comfort  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism 
is  crystallized  in  that  one  dying  word  of  his,  "most  certain." 

Of  these  two  men,  Ursinus  and  Olevianus,  Ursinus  was 
the  stronger  intellectually,  and  ranks  next  to  Bullinger  and 
Beza  among  the  second  generation  of  Reformers.  Ursinus 
was  rather  the  teacher,  but  Olevianus  was  the  missionary — 
a  great  home  missionary,  as  superintendent  of  the  Church 
of  the  Palatinate.  But  Elector  Frederick  III  also  had  the 
missionary  spirit,  and  whenever  he  saw  an  opportunity  of 
introducing  the  Reformed  faith,  he  was  quick  to  utilize  it, 
especially  by  sending  his  beloved  Heidelberg  Catechism. 


QUESTIONS 

Describe  Strassburg. 

What  order  of  monks  did  Bucer  join? 

What  was  the  religious  situation  at  Strassburg  when 
he  arrived? 

Who  were  the  other  Reformers  there? 

Describe  his  early  preaching  there. 

What  attitude  did  he  take  on  election  and  church 
discipline? 

What  was  his  early  view  on  the  Lord's  Supper. 

What  did  Luther  say  of  him  at  Marburg? 

What  was  the  significance  of  the  Wittenberg  Concord? 

Did  the  Reformed  accept  it? 


120  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

How  was  Bucer  driven  out  of  Strassburg,  and  where 
did  he  go? 

Why  did  England  leave  Catholicism? 

Describe  Tyndale's  life. 

Why  was  Bucer  called  to  England? 

Where  did  he  teach  in  England? 

How  did  he  oppose  the  Catholic  party  there  in  the 
Anglican  Church? 

Describe  his  death  and  funeral. 

What  was  done  to  him  after  his  death? 

What  position  does  he  take  among  the  Reformers? 

Who  was  Elector  Frederick  III  of  the  Palatinate? 

Whom  did  he  order  to  write  the  Heidelberg  Catechism? 

Describe  the  early  life  of  Ursinus. 

How  was  Ursinus  educated? 

How  did  Crato  of  Crafftheim  aid  him? 

What  compelled  him  to  resign  at  Breslau? 

Where  did  he  go? 

How  did  he  happen  to  get  to  Heidelberg? 

How  did  his  previous  experience  prepare  him  to  write 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism? 

Describe  the  early  life  of  Olevianus. 

What  led  him  to  study  for  the  ministry? 

How  did  he  begin  at  Treves? 

What  was  the  effect  of  his  preaching  there? 

Why  did  the  Catholics  object  to  his  preaching? 

What  did  the  Elector  of  Treves  do? 

How  did  he  escape  martyrdom? 

How  did  this  prepare  him  to  write  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism? 

When  and  where  was  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  pub- 
lished? 

What  is  its  great  peculiarity? 

Describe  Elector  Frederick's  defense  of  it. 

Describe  Ursinus'  last  years. 

Describe  Olevianus'  last  years. 


pj|jjilliii»i;,'>   «■■«  |r. 

liliii  mi  mill  llllliilllll  U1I 


V- 


THE    TOMB    OF    WILLIAM    OF    ORANGE 
(See  Page  98) 


CHAPTER  VII 

Thic  Reformers  oi<  Poland,  Hungary,  Italy 
and  the  Jews 

POLAND 

I.     Lasco's  Birth  and  Education. 

John  A'Lasco,  the  Polish  Reformer,  stands  out  as  the 
pure,  self-sacrificing  Reformer,  for  he  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  characters  among  the  Reformers.  When  he  was 
a  young  man,  Erasmus  pronounced  him  "A  soul  without  a 
stain."  He  was  also  a  prince-Reformer;  that  is,  he  was  of 
princely  blood.  But  he  gave  up  his  princedom  for  Christ, 
like  Moses,  "who  esteemed  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater 
riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt."  Though  all  the 
Reformers  were  self-sacrificing,  he  was  more  so.  His  mis- 
sionary zeal  led  him  to  become  the  Reformer  of  three  lands. 
Other  Reformers  reformed  one  land,  as  Luther  did  Germany, 
and  Zwingli,  Switzerland.  A  few  reformed  two,  as  Calvin 
and  Beza,  who  led  the  Reformation  in  France  and  French 
Switzerland.  But  Lasco  was  the  Reformer  of  three  lands, 
Germany,  England  and  Poland.  We  therefore  here  come 
upon  one  of  the  most  interesting  characters  among  the 
Reformers. 

John  A'Lasco  (or  John  of  Lask)  was  born  in  1499,  in 
the  town  of  Lask,  Poland.  His  father  was  of  the  Polish 
nobility.  From  the  time  he  was  ten  years  of  age  he  was 
reared  by  his  uncle,  the  Archbishop  of  Gnesen,  one  of  the 
highest  religious  nobles  in  Poland.  In  the  episcopal  palace 
of  this  uncle  at  Cracow  he  received  his  education  for  the 
priesthood  under  the  uncle's  oversight.  The  archbishop 
lived    in   great   splendor,   and   his   nephew   lived   in   luxury 

121 


122  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

in  the  highest  society.  In  1513  he  went  with  his  uncle  to 
Rome,  and  in  1515  to  Bologna  to  study  church  law.  In 
1518  he  returned  to  his  native  land.  There  his  kind  uncle 
loaded  him  with  honors  in  the  hope  that  he  might,  one  day, 
rise  to  his  position  of  archbishop.  Thus,  when  hardly 
eighteen  years  of  age,  he  had  the  highest  hopes  placed  befoie 
his  eyes.  In  1521  he  was  ordained  as  priest,  and  became 
dean  of  Gnesen. 

II.  His  Travels. 

Lasco  loved  to  travel.  In  1523  he  started  for  Italy. 
On  his  way  he  stopped  briefly  at  Zurich,  and  Zwingli,  always 
a  missionary,  gave  him  the  first  impulse  toward  Protestant- 
ism by  inducing  him  to  read  the  Scriptures.  Then  he  went 
to  Basle.  There  he  got  another  impulse  toward  the  Refor- 
mation by  meeting  Erasmus.  Then  be  went  to  Paris,  and 
there  the  works  of  Lefevre  fell  into  his  hands,  and  in  the 
court  he  met  Margaret,  the  king's  sister,  then  leaning  toward 
the  Evangelical  Gospel.  But  the  memory  of  Erasmus  fol- 
lowed him,  so  he  returned  to  Basle.  There  he  boarded  with 
Erasmus,  who  was  captivated  by  this  young  noble.  He  thus 
writes  of  him,  "While  a  man  of  no  ordinary  learning,  Lasco 
is  in  his  life  spotlessly  pure  as  fresh-fallen  snow,  kindly 
amiable,  so  that  every  one  begins  to  live  in  his  society,  and 
all  have  a  sense  of  bereavement  at  his  departure, — a  golden 
disposition,  a  true  pearl,  and  so  unassuming  and  free  from 
arrogance,  although  he  is  to  be  called  some  day  to  fill  one 
of  the  highest  offices  in  his  native  land."  Lasco.  on  his 
part,  became  deeply  attached  to  Erasmus,  and  boasted  of 
being  his  disciple.  Here,  too,  he  met  Ecolampadius,  for 
whose  piety  and  learning  he  had  the  highest  respect,  and 
whose  books,  especially  his  expositions  of  the  Scriptures, 
doubtless  brought  him  to  a  deeper  understanding  of  the 
truths  of  the  Bible. 

III.  Lasco  in  Poland. 

When  Lasco  came  back  to  Poland,  alter  an  absence  of 
two  and  one-half  years,  he  was  still  only  a  humanist,  like 


LASCO  BECOMES  PROTESTANT       123 

Erasmus,  and  for  ten  years  more  he  remained  a  Catholic. 
When  he  then  returned  to  Poland  he  found  that  rumors 
against  him  had  been  circulated, — that  he  had  visited  Zwin- 
gli  and  become  a  heretic,  and  also  that  he  had  married. 
He  was  soon  able  to  convince  his  uncle  that  these  rumors 
were  baseless,  but  this  did  not  satisfy  his  opponents  in 
Poland.  So  he  took  an  oath  of  purgation,  in  which  he 
declared  that  he  was  still  a  Romanist  and  had  no  thought 
of  separating  from  the  pope.  Lasco  was  still  active  in  sup- 
porting the  papacy,  but  his  humanism  ever  came  out  promi- 
nently. He  wanted  it  introduced  into  the  Romish  Church, 
that  it  might  be  purified.  In  1531  his  uncle,  the  Archbishop 
of  Gnesen,  died.  The  death  of  his  uncle  took  away  from 
him  his  strongest  support  and  hope  of  advancement  in  the 
Catholic  Church.  Still  he  remained  faithful  to  Rome,  and 
seven  years  later  was  made  Archdeacon  of  Warsau.  But 
that  was  the  last  honor  that  Rome  gave  him. 

IV.     Lasco  in  Exile. 

Soon  after  (1538)  he  suddenly  quitted  Poland,  and  re- 
nounced the  Catholic  Church.  It  was  evident  that  during 
these  years  humanism  no  longer  satisfied  him.  He  was  by 
nature  spiritually-minded,  and  longed  for  something  better 
than  humanism,  especially  since  he  had  gradually  become 
convinced  that  it  was  impossible  to  reform  the  Catholic 
Church.  He  did  not  leave  the  Romish  Church  because  of 
pique  or  disappointed  ambition,  for  he  had  just  received 
one  of  its  highest  positions.  He  left  it  because  of  con- 
viction. But  in  leaving  it  and  his  native  land,  he  made  the 
greatest  of  sacrifices.  He  gave  up  all  his  splendid  hopes 
of  advancement  in  the  Catholic  Church.  Like  Moses,  he 
would  "rather  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God  than 
to  rejoice  in  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season."  But  where 
should  he  go?  All  his  possessions  and  hopes  were  in 
Poland.  He  left  his  native  land  and  everything  to  go,  like 
Abraham,  not  knowing,  whither  he  went.    He  could  say: 


124  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

"To  me  remained  no  place  nor  home; 
My  country  is  in  every  clime; 
I  can  be  calm  and  free  from  care 
On  every  shore,  since  God  is  there." 

He  went  to  Louvain,  in  the  Netherlands,  where  he  re- 
mained three  years.  There  he  joined  the  secret  band  of 
Protestants. 

V.     Lasco  in  East  Friesland. 

Persecution  drove  him  out  of  Louvain,  and  he  fled  to 
East  Friesland,  in  the  extreme  northwestern  part  of  Ger- 
many. There,  far  away  from  Switzerland,  there  had  already 
been  founded,  as  early  as  1524,  a  Reformed  congregation, 
the  only  one  in  Germany,  besides  Strassburg.  Aportanus, 
one  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life,  to  whom  we 
referred  in  connection  with  Bullinger,  had  become  Prot- 
estant, and  preached  at  the  city  of  Emden,  not  the  Gospel 
of  Luther,  but  of  Zwingli.  In  1543  Lasco  was  appointed  the 
superintendent  of  churches  in  Emden,  and  began  his  home 
missionary  work  very  actively  and  thoroughly.  Thus  the 
Franciscan  monks  still  kept  up  the  Catholic  service  at 
Emden.  The  Duchess  of  Oldenberg,  who  was  the  ruler,  was 
timid  and  feared  to  silence  them.  But,  just  as  Knox  spoke 
to  Queen  Mary  so  that  she  trembled,  so  Lasco  bravely  ad- 
dressed his  ruler  so  that  she  took  courage  and  suppressed 
the  monks.  He  also  thoroughly  organized  the  Church  at 
Emden,  reforming  it  of  its  evils.  He  established  a  coetus, — 
a  weekly  Monday  meeting,  and  also  a  sort  of  a  synod, 
which  looked  after  the  morals  of  the  clergy.  In  1548  he 
went  to  England  to  aid  in  the  introduction  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  remained  there  several  months.  In  1549  he  was 
back  at  Emden,  but,  alas,  the  condition  of  his  Church! 
The  Catholics  had  triumphed  politically  in  Germany,  and 
the  Interim  was  to  be  forced  on  Protestant  lands.  The 
seven  sacraments  and  other  Catholic  rites  were  to  be  rein- 
troduced. As  the  Emden  ministers  refused  to  permit  this, 
the  church   was  closed  against  them.     So  they  held  their 


LASCO   IN   ENGLAND  125 

services  in  the  neighboring  graveyard,  which  was  thronged 
with  greater  crowds  than  had  come  to  the  church.  There, 
amid  the  graves  of  the  dead,  children  were  baptized  and 
marriages  were  performed.  Lasco  on  his  return  preached 
in  the  graveyard.  But  the  Catholic  powers  learned  of  his 
presence,  and  after  he  had  been  there  a  month  he  was 
compelled  to  leave. 

VI.     Lasco  in  England. 

But  where  was  he  to  go?  He  had  been  driven  out  of 
Poland,  out  of  Belgium,  and  now  out  of  Germany.  For- 
tunately England  was  opened  to  him.  We  have  seen  in  the 
last  chapter  how  England  had  accepted  Protestantism,  and 
how  her  King,  the  pious  Edward  VI,  had  called  Bucer  and 
Martyr  from  the  continent.  There  Lasco  became  the  confi- 
dential friend  of  Cranmer,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  lived  with  him  for  a  time  in  Lambeth  Palace,  London. 
To  live  in  a  palace  was  not  new  to  Lasco,  for  he  had  been 
reared  in  one  in  Poland  by  his  uncle.  Here  he  gained  a 
most  remarkable  influence  over  Cranmer,  and  so  was  led  to 
exert  a  remarkable  influence  in  England.  It  seems  very 
probable  that  it  was  Lasco's  learning  and  influence  that 
led  Cranmer  to  give  up  his  Lutheran  views*  and  become 
Reformed.  As  a  result,  the  Episcopal  Church  in  its  creed 
holds  to  the  Reformed  and  not  the  Lutheran  doctrines.  About 
the  publication  of  the  Prayer-book  in  1549,  he  showed  his 
dissent  from  it  by  publishing,  about  the  same  time,  his  own 
liturgy  for  the  foreign  Protestant  Church  in  London,  of 
which  he  was  the  superintendent.  He  aided  in  the  founding 
of  the  Puritan  or  low  Church  party  in  the  Anglican  Church. 
The  fact  is  that  this  low  Church  party  was  founded  by 
the  Anglicans,  who  had  been  on  the  continent  and  who 
had  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  Reformed  Reformers,  Bullinger 
and   Calvin.     The  first  of  them   was   Hooper,   who   was   so 

*  For  he  was  married  to  a  relative  of  the  German 
Lutheran  Reformer,  Osiander,  and  had  published  in  Eng- 
land a  translation  of  a  Lutheran  catechism. 


126  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

low-Church  that  when  he  was  appointed  bishop  he  refused 
to  wear  the  white  robe  for  his  ordination  until  compelled 
to.  In  all  these  controversies,  as  against  vestments,  Lasco 
stood  with  Hooper. 

But  more  important  was  his  influence  in  his  own  con- 
gregation for  the  further  development  of  the  Reformed 
Church.  He  became  the  great  missionary  to  the  foreigners 
in  London,  and  organized  them  into  congregations.  No 
home  missionary  to-day  in  London  is  doing  truer  missionary 
work  than  did  Lasco  among  the  Dutch,  Germans  and 
Italians  then.  Strange  to  say,  he  was  permitted  to  organize 
them  outside  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Nothing  but  his 
tremendous  influence  with  Cranmer  could  have  gained  this 
concession,  and  some  of  the  Anglican  Reformers,  as  Ridley, 
Bishop  of  London,  objected  to  it  at  the  time.  In  his  church 
at  Austin  Friars,  in  London,  he  proceeded  to  organize  the 
foreigners  according  to  Presbyterial  ideas.  He  organized 
this  congregation  in  1550  by  the  election  of  elders  and 
deacons.  Calvin  gets  the  credit  of  organizing  the  Presby- 
terial Church  government,  but  he  must  divide  this  with 
Lasco.  Lasco's  London  congregation  surpassed  Calvin's  at 
Geneva  in  the  completeness  of  its  organization.  Lasco's 
Presbyterianism  also  differed  from  Calvin's  in  being  demo- 
cratic, while  Calvin's  was  aristocratic;  that  is,  Lasco  gave 
more  power  to  the  people  and  the  congregation;  Calvin, 
more  to  the  upper  church  court.* 

VII.     Protestantism  in  England. 

But  this  prosperous  congregation  of  Lasco's  in  London 
was  not  to  continue  long.  Too  soon  for  Protestantism  the 
good  King  Edward  VI  died,  and  Bloody  Mary  came  to  the 
throne.     Then  followed  a  reign  of  terror  for  Protestantism 

*  It  is  interesting  to  those  who  belong  to  the  Re- 
formed Churches,  rather  than  the  Presbyterian,  to  know 
that  Lasco's  liturgy  and  church  order  were  closely  fol- 
lowed in  Holland  and  at  Heidelberg. 


PERSECUTIONS  IN  ENGLAND  127 

in  England.  Many  of  the  Protestant  clergy  fled  to  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland,  and  Catholicism  was  everywhere  re- 
stored. The  climax  of  these  persecutions  were  the  martyr- 
doms of  Hooper,  Cranmer,  Ridley  and  Latimer,  the  heads 
of  the  Protestant  Church  in  England,  the  last  three  at  Ox- 
ford (1555-6).  Cranmer  at  first  recanted,  but  his  con- 
science smote  him  for  doing  so,  and  he  withdrew  his  recanta- 
tion. When  he  was  brought  to  the  stake,  he  stretched  forth 
the  hand  that  had  made  the  unhappy  signature  at  recanta? 
tion,  held  it  in  the  flames  until  it  was  consumed,  and  fre- 
quently exclaimed,  "That  unworthy  hand."  Fortunately 
Queen  Mary  did  not  live  long.  When  she  died  (1558), 
Queen  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne  and  restored  Prot- 
estantism. 

VIII.     Lasco's  Flight. 

Lasco  did  not  suffer  martyrdom  like  Cranmer.  He  and 
his  foreign  congregation,  175  in  number,  were  compelled  to 
flee.  They  sailed  from  Gravesend,  September  17,  1553, 
'singing  Lasco's  favorite  Psalm,  the  second.  But  they  went 
out  into  storm  and  suffering.  They  aimed  to  go  to  Den- 
mark, where  Lasco  hoped  to  gain  a  favorable  reception. 
On  November  8  they  landed  at  Kolding,  in  Denmark.  Lasco 
went  to  the  Danish  court  preacher,  Noviomagus,  stating 
their  sad  condition,  and  begged  him  to  get  for  them  an 
audience  with  the  King.  Before  it  could  be  given,  they 
were  required  to  attend  church,  and  the  court  preacher 
preached  on  the  pericope  of  the  day,  Philippians  3:  7-21. 
The  Scripture  passage  was  full  of  comfort,  but  the  sermon 
was  full  of  denunciation  of  the  Reformed  because  of  their 
view  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Lasco  then  presented  the 
request  to  the  King  that  they  be  permitted  to  remain  in 
Denmark.  They  were  answered  five  days  later  that  they 
would  be  permitted  to  stay  only  on  condition  that  they 
become  Lutherans.  Now,  the  Lutherans  of  Scandinavia  are 
more  high  church  in  their  ceremonies  than  the  German 
Lutherans,  and  they  reminded  Lasco's  congregation  of  the 


128  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

high  church  Anglicans,  against  whom  they  had  contended 
in  England.  So  his  congregation  declared  that  they  would 
rather  continue  their  wanderings  than  stay  and  worship 
with  such  Romish  rites.  Lasco  then  made  a  second  request 
that  they  be  permitted  to  stay  during  the  winter  and  not 
be  driven  out  to  sea  in  such  inclement  weather.  But  they 
were  refused.  What  to  do  they  knew  not.  So  Lasco  went 
overland  to  Emden  to  try  and  find  a  place  of  refuge. 
Micronius,  another  of  their  ministers,  went  with  them  in 
the  ship  to  Copenhagen,  where  they  hoped  to  find  a  refuge. 
At  first  the  Lutheran  ministers  there  received  them  kindly, 
but  an  order  from  the  King  of  Denmark  came  ordering 
them  to  leave.  Their  requests,  to  stay  the  winter,  then  to 
stay  a  month,  then  to  stay  two  weeks,  were  all  denied  them. 
They  must  leave  within  three  days.  So  away  they  sailed 
into  the  storm  and  snow.  Lasco's  two  sons  had  gained  per- 
mission to  remain  in  Denmark,  but  this  was  at  the  last 
minute  recalled,  and  they,  with  their  tutor,  were  compelled 
to  flee  to  the  vessels,  which  had  already  started  away,  by 
jumping  from  one  ice-floe  to  another  in  the  harbor.  In  a 
few  days  they  arrived  in  Germany,  for  the  Danish  ports 
were  closed  against  them. 

One  vessel  landed  at  Warnemunde,  where  the  magistrate 
received  them  kindly.  But  a  week  after,  orders  came  from 
Rostock  that  they  must  be  sent  away  as  they  were  heretics. 
They  were  compelled  to  travel  overland  through  snow  and 
wind  to  Wismar,  where  they  met  the  rest  of  the  refugees. 
These  had  found  the  bay  full  of  floating  ice,  so  that  the 
vessel  that  landed  there  stuck  fast  a  mile  from  the  town. 
During  the  night  a  Storm  arose  which  drove  the  ice  against 
the  ship,  so  that  the  captain  wakened  the  refugees  and  bade 
them  flee  in  the  darkness  over  the  ice  to  shore.  They 
refused  to  do  so,  as  the  danger  was  too  great,  so  they  put 
out  to  sea,  but  later  landed  at  Wismar.  At  first  they  were 
permitted  to  stay  there,  but  the  Lutheran  preachers  heated 
up  the  people  against  them  as  heretics,  and  by  the  end  of 
February  they  were  compelled  to  leave.     Men,  women  and 


LASCO'S  LAST  YEARS  129 

children,  they  walked  through  the  storm  and  snow  for 
many  miles  to  find  a  place  of  refuge.  The  third  ship 
landed  at  Travemunde,  but  they  were  soon  driven  out  as 
heretics.  So  the  refugees  turned  to  the  city  of  Hamburg,  but 
here  the  leader  of  the  high  Lutherans,  Westphal,  lived  and 
preached.  He  it  was  who  had  gotten  into  a  controversy 
with  Calvin  and  stirred  up  all  northern  Germany  against 
the  Calvinists.  On  March  24  they  were  ordered  to  leave 
Hamburg.  Fortunately  they  succeeded  in  getting  a  ship  to 
take  them  to  Emden,  where,  after  three  months  of  suf- 
fering in  mid-winter,  they  at  last  found  an  asylum;  for 
Lasco  had  already  come  there  from  Denmark  and  arranged 
for  their  reception.  How  terrible  these  sufferings  for  their 
faith!  Would  we  be  willing  to  suffer  as  much  for  it?  And 
how  sad  this  tale  of  religious  bigotry.  Of  course,  we  must 
remember  that  those  days  were  not  like  ours.  Times  have 
changed,  and  the  Lutherans  of  our  day  would  not  think  of 
such  unkindness.  But  to  the  glory  of  the  Reformed  be 
it  said  that  they  never  cast  out  suffering  refugees  in  that 
way.  Again  and  again  they  received  Lutheran  refugees 
and  gave  them  an  asylum.  Thus  when  the  Lutheran  preach- 
ers of  southern  Germany  were  driven  out  by  the  Interim, 
Bullinger  received  them  gladly  and  hospitably,  even  those 
who  had  denounced  Reformed  doctrines;  and  at  Basle, 
Brenz,  the  Lutheran  Reformer  of  southern  Germany,  was 
cordially  received,  although  he  had  attacked  the  Reformed. 

IX.     Lasco' s  Last  Days  in  Poland. 

In  April,  1555,  Lasco  left  Emden,  as  the  countess  no 
longer  supported  him.  He  went  to  Frankford,  where  many 
refugees  from  England  had  already  found  an  asylum. 
There  he  met  Calvin.  The  high  Lutherans  of  northern 
Germany  began  heating  up  the  Lutherans,  who  controlled 
Frankford,  against  the  Reformed.  So  Lasco  visited  the 
neighboring  princes,  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  and  Elector 
Otto  Henry  of  Palatinate,  to  gain  their  help  against  the 
persecutions   of  the   high   Lutherans.      In  this   way   Lasco 


130  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

came   into   contact  with  the   Palatinate,   which   soon   after 
became  Reformed. 

But  a  new  field  was  opening  to  him;  his  own  native 
land,  Poland,  was  at  last  receiving  the  Gospel  and  calling 
for  him.  So  he  returned  to  Poland  (1556),  which  he  had 
left  many  years  before.  He  went  back,  with  true  missionary 
spirit,  to  become  the  great  Reformer  of  his  native  land. 
Poland  needed  a  great  Reformer,  for  Protestantism  there 
was  much  divided.  Lasco  proved  equal  to  the  occasion. 
With  great  wisdom  he  guided  them.  He  met  with  great 
difficulties,  from  the  Catholics  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  from  the  Unitarians,  who  were  beginning  to  appear. 
He  was  active  at  the  synods  of  1557  and  1558.  He  organ- 
ized their  Church  along  full  Presbyterial  lines.  The  minutes 
of  its  general  synod,  which  have  lately  been  published, 
show  that  it  was  one  of  the  earliest  Reformed  synods,  even 
antedating  France.  He  also  took  an  active  part  in  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible  into  Polish.  But  he  did  not  live  long 
after  his  return  to  his  native  land, — only  four  years.  He 
died  January  8,  1560.  At  last,  he,  whose  life  had  been  such 
a  pilgrimage,  found  rest  in  the  Father's  house.  At  last, 
he,  who  gave  up  all  for  Christ,  received  the  hundred-fold 
reward.  He  had  given  up  a  princedom  for  Christ,  but  he 
now  received  a  crown  in  heaven  above. 

HUNGARY 
X.     Hungary's  Reformer,  Matthew  Devay. 

Devay's  real  name  was  Matthew  Biroe,  of  Deva,  the 
name  Devay  being  taken  from  the  place  of  his  birth. 
While  he  is  the  most  prominent  of  the  Hungarian  Re- 
formers, there  are  several  others  who  need  to  be  mentioned, 
as  Szegedin  and  Melius.  Hungary  was  then  partly  under 
the  Turkish  rule  and  partly  under  Christian.  And  the 
parts  that  were  under  Turkish  rule  had  greater  religious 
liberty  than  those  under  the  Catholic,  and  there  it  was 
that  Prctestantism  spread  most  widely. 


DEVAY   AND    SZEGEDIN  131 

The  first  Protestantism  in  Hungary  was  Lutheranism. 
Devay  studied  at  the  university  of  Cracow  and  became  a 
monk.  But  he  felt  the  influence  of  the  new  religious 
movements  around  him,  and  went  to  Wittenberg,  where 
Luther,  seeing  great  possibilities  in  him,  took  him  into  his 
own  house,  and  Devay  became  a  great  favorite  of  his.  In 
1531  he  returned  to  Hungary,  determined  that  the  places 
that  knew  him  as  a  boy  should  know  the  true  Gospel.  With 
true  missionary  zeal,  he  preached  it  with  great  eloquence 
to  both  high  and  low.  Soon  town  after  town  in  upper 
Hungary,  around  Buda,  followed  him  into  Lutheranism. 
But  the  enemies  of  the  Gospel  arose  and  had  him  impris- 
oned at  Pesth.  In  prison  he  converted  a  blacksmith,  who 
had  declared  he  wanted  to  share  Devay's  fate.  The  king, 
moved  by  this,  set  Devay  free. 

He  then  went  to  Kassa,  which,  unlike  Buda,  was  under 
the  control  of  Austria.  There  the  people  heard  him  gladly. 
But  the  Catholic  authorities  had  him  arrested,  and  he  was 
imprisoned  at  Vienna  for  two  years.  Bishop  Faber,  the 
bitterest  foe  of  Protestantism,  tried  to  win  him  back  to 
Catholicism.  Once  when  the  bishop  left  the  prison,  he 
said,  "I  would  bless  thee  if  thou  wert  a  Christian."  Devay 
replied,  "I  do  not  want  thy  blessing;  God  blesses  me." 
Released  from  prison,  he  went  a  second  time  to  Witten- 
berg to  tell  Luther  of  the  progress  that  the  Reformation 
was  making  in  Hungary.  He  returned  in  1537  to  the 
Papa  district.  Here  the  Catholics  bitterly  opposed  him. 
About  that  time  Devay  changed  his  views  about  the  Lord's 
Supper,  after  reading  Calvin's  "Institutes."  He  gave  up  the 
Lutheran  view  for  the  Reformed.  Over  no  defection  from 
Lutheranism  did  Luther  mourn  so  much  as  over  that  of 
Devay.     He  died  about  1545,  at  Debreczin. 

XL     Szeged  in. 

After  Devay  came  Stephen  Kiss,  of  Szegedin.  He  is 
generally  known  to  English  readers,  as  was  Devay,  by  the 
name  of  the  town  of  his  birth,  Szegedin.     Devay  had  been 


132  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

the  bold,  eloquent  preacher;  Szegedin  was  the  learned  pro- 
fessor and  author.  A  graduate  of  the  universities  of  Vienna 
and  Cracow,  he,  like  Devay,  went  at  first  to  Luther,  at 
Wittenberg,  in  1543;  though  later  he,  too,  became  Reformed. 
On  his  return  to  Hungary,  Petrovics,  the  count  of  Temesvar, 
appointed  him  as  teacher  in  his  school  there.  Protected  by 
this  prince,  he  taught  and  preached  the  Gospel  with  large 
results.  But  when  the  town  came  under  the  control  of 
King  Ferdinand,  he,  with  other  ministers,  had  to  flee. 
There  was  a  providence  in  this.  Had  he  stayed,  he  would 
later  have  been  slain  in  the  terrible  slaughter  there  by 
the  Turks.  Driven  from  place  to  place  by  the  Catholics, 
he  finally  went  to  Turkish  Hungary.  His  enemies,  however, 
accused  him  before  the  Turkish  pasha,  who  imprisoned  and 
scourged  him.  His  sufferings  there  secured  for  him  great 
sympathy.  His  friends  at  Buda  tried  to  have  him  released, 
but  gained  only  the  concession  that  he  was  allowed  to 
work  in  his  room,  bound  by  chains.  He  was  finally  released, 
1563,  and  went  to  Raczkeve,  where  he  became  superin- 
tendent over  thirty-five  congregations  under  Turkish  rule. 
He  died  (1572)  leaving  a  large  Reformed  systematic  the- 
ology or  "Common  Places,"  for  he  was  a  learned  theologian. 
He  wrote  against  the  Unitarians,  who  were  beginning  to 
appear  in  Transylvania.  Beza  called  him  "A  champion 
worthy  of  eternal  remembrance." 

XII.     Melius. 

A  third  Reformer  came  to  complete  the  Reformation 
of  Hungary  for  the  Reformed, — Melius.  He,  too,  had  gone 
to  Wittenberg  to  study  (1555-1558)  under  Luther.  On  his 
return  he  was  called  as  pastor  to  Debrec'zin,  and  helped  to 
found  what  is  at  present  one  of  the  largest  Reformed  con- 
gregations in  the  world.  Though  he  had,  at  first,  been 
friendly  to  Luther,  he,  like  the  other  Hungarians  men- 
tioned above,  went  over  to  the  Reformed  (1550).  He 
wrote  the  first  Reformed  Confession,  1562.  He  died  in 
1572.     He   did   great  missionary   work  among  the   princes 


THE  REFORMERS  OF  ITALY  133 

of  Transylvania,  so  that  a  number  of  them  joined  the  Re- 
formed. He  strongly  opposed  the  Unitarians.  The  publi- 
cation of  the  Lutheran  creed,  the  Formula  of  Concord,  with 
its  condemnation  of  the  Reformed,  led  many  mild  Lutherans 
in  Hungary  to  become  Reformed.  In  1567  the  first  Re- 
formed synod  adopted  the  Second  Helvetic  Confession. 
The  Reformed  type  of  doctrine  seems  to  have  been  better 
suited  to  the  Hungarian  type  of  mind,  or  it  would  not 
have  been  so  generally  and  quickly  adopted  by  them.  Its 
doctrine  of  the  supremacy  of  God,  and  its  more  rational 
view  about  the  Lord's  Supper,  seems  to  have  appealed  to 
the  Hungarians,  who  were,  originally,  a  Semitic  race,  and 
combined  mysticism  with  rationality  in  religion.  By  the 
close  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Reformation  had  become 
so  general  that  there  were  only  three  of  the  nobles  of 
Hungary  who  remained  Catholic,  and  the  great  majority  of 
the  Protestants  there  to-day  belong  to  the  Reformed  Church. 

ITALY 

XIII.     Ochino  and  Vergerius. 

A  Reformation  in  Italy, — can  it  be  possible  that  there 
was  a  Reformation  in  the  land  where  the  pope  ruled  su- 
preme? There  certainly  was  one  needed,  for  it  used  to  be 
a  proverb,  "The  nearer  Rome,  the  worse  Christian."  Yes, 
the  Reformation  broke  out  even  in  Italy,  and  gained  a  strong 
hold  for  a  time  at  several  places,  at  Naples  and  Lucca. 
But  it  was  soon  cut  short  by  the  introduction  of  the  in- 
quisition. In  this  Italian  Reformation,  three  Reformers 
were  prominent, — Ochino,  Vergerius,  and  Peter  Martyr. 

Ochino,  the  Capuchin  monk,  was  the  most  eloquent 
preacher  in  Italy.  The  Emperor,  Charles  V,  was  wont  to 
say  that  his  sermons  could  draw  tears  from  stones.  When 
he  preached  his  Lenten  sermons,  the  cathedrals  at  Florence 
and  Naples  were  filled  to  overflowing.  But  he  became  too 
Evangelical  and  had  to  flee. 

But   the   Reformation    struck   higher   than   this   monk. 


134  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

One  of  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops  was  Peter  Paul  Ver- 
gerius,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  Pope  to  convert  the 
Protestants.  But,  lo,  he  turned  Protestant.  As  he  was 
compelled  to  flee  from  Italy  for  his  Evangelical  opinions, 
he  stopped  at  the  village  of  Pontresina,  in  the  canton  of 
the  Grisons,  in  southeastern  Switzerland.  The  priest  of 
the  village  had  just  died,  and  the  simple-hearted  moun- 
taineers begged  him  to  stay  and  be  their  priest.  He  re- 
plied, "You  may  not  like  my  preaching."  They  declared 
that  they  would  be  fully  satisfied  with  it.  And  soon  his 
preaching  began  to  bear  fruit  as  their  eyes  were  opened 
to  the  errors  of  Romanism.  They  finally  decided  to  put 
away  their  images  in  their  church.  But  what  to  do  with 
them  they  did  not  know.  Some  of  them  wanted  to  sell 
them  to  the  churches  down  the  valley  below  them,  which 
still  remained  Catholic.  But  others  said,  "What  is  wrong 
for  us  is  wrong  for  them."  And  so  they  were  divided. 
They  finally  took  the  images  out  of  their  church  and  threw 
them  into  the  little  mountain  stream  that  flows  through 
Pontresina.  And  that  was  the  end  of  Catholicism  in  that 
valley  for  more  than  three  centuries.  His  missionary  zeal 
there  converted  that  whole  valley  and  also  the  whole 
Romansch  race.  Vergerius  went  to  Switzerland  and  Wur- 
temberg,  where  he  died,  1565. 

XIV.     The  Conversio?i  of  Peter  Martyr. 

But  the  ablest  of  the  Italian  Reformers  and  the  one  of 
greatest  interest  to  us  was  Peter  Martyr  Vermigli,  generally 
called  Peter  Martyr.  For  he  became  identified  with  the 
Reformed,  and,  next  to  Calvin,  was  the  strongest  dogma- 
tician  among  the  early  Reformed.  He  was  born  in  September, 
1500,  at  Florence.  This  city,  which  had  burned  Savonarola, 
the  Reformer,  before  the  Reformation,  in  1498,  saw  the 
birth,  two  years  later,  of  one  of  its  sons  who  was  to  be 
the  successor  of  Savonarola  in  attacking  the  papacy. 
Martyr's  mother  was  a  woman  of  deep  piety,  and  poured 
into  him  her  spirit  of  devotion.     At  the  public  schools  of 


PETER  MARTYR'S   CONVERSION  135 

Florence  he  was  noted  for  the  strength  of  his  intellect  and 
the  power  of  his  memory,  but  above  all  by  a  thirst  for 
learning  that  would  stop  at  nothing.  His  father  wanted 
him  to  be  educated  for  civil  affairs,  and  had  great  ambi- 
tions for  him  there.  But  the  boy  disappointed  his  father 
by  choosing  to  become  a  monk  and  entering  the  monastery 
at  Fiesole,  a  suburb  of  Florence.  He  first  studied  philosophy 
for  eight  y-ears.  It  was  his  intense  desire  for  study  that 
ultimately  led  him  to  become  a  Protestant,  because  he  al- 
ways wanted  to  get  at  the  root  of  things.  Thus  he  was 
not  satisfied  with  studying  Aristotle  in  the  Latin.  He 
learned  the  Greek,  so  as  to  read  Aristotle  in  the  language 
in  which  he  spoke.  He  did  not  then  know  that  the  learning 
of  the  Greek  of  Aristotle  would  prepare  him  to  read  the 
Greek  of  the  New  Testament,  which  would  open  his  eyes 
to  the  falsity  of  Rome.  He  studied  so  diligently  that  at 
the  age  of  twenty-six  he  had  gained  the  title  of  "Doctor 
of  Divinity,"  and  his  eloquence  led  him  to  be  placed  on 
the  list  of  preachers  for  his  Order.  He  preached  with  great 
power  in  a  number  of  the  Italian  cities. 

Providence  led  him  to  be  appointed  a  few  years  later 
as  prior  of  the  monastery  at  Naples.  There  is  an  old 
proverb  referring  to  the  great  beauty  of  the  bay  of  Naples, 
"See  Naples  and  die."  But  Peter  Martyr  saw  Naples  and 
lived; — he  gained  life. — eternal  life.  He  saw  something 
more  than  its  natural  beauties,  as  he  there  began  to  see  the 
beauties  of  divine  grace.  There  it  was  that  he  met  the  first 
Reformer  of  Italy,  Jean  Valdes,  a  Spaniard.  This  Reformer 
was  wont  to  hold  spiritual  seances  in  a  villa  at  Chiaja, 
one  of  the  western  suburbs  of  Naples.  Valdes'  delightful 
discoveries  in  God's  Word  led  a  number  of  prominent 
Italians  to  become  Evangelical;  Martyr  was  one  of  them. 
Soon  in  his  sermons  on  I  Corinthians  (which  Martyr 
preached  with  marvelous  eloquence  at  Naples)  it  began  to 
be  whispered  that  he  was  Evangelical.  His  sermons  raised 
a  great  storm  at  Naples,  and  he  was  forbidden  to  preach. 
But  he  had  influence  with  the  pope,  and  so  the  prohibition 


136  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

was  removed.  When  Valdes  died,  he  was  appointed  prior 
of  the  monastery  at  Lucca.  There,  too,  he  preached  with 
great  power,  and  it  was  owing  to  his  preaching  that  there 
were  more  Protestants  at  Lucca  than  in  any  other  city  in 
Italy.  But  his  enemies  were  watching  him,  and  finally  he 
was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  council  of  his  Order 
at  Genoa.  With  the  summons  came  a  warning  that  if  he 
obeyed  he  would  be  convicted  and  put  to  death.  .  So  there 
was  nothing  left  for  him  but  flight.  At  Florence  he  met 
Ochino,  like  himself  in  great  danger.  They  determined  to 
flee  to  Switzerland,  but  by  different  roads. 

Thus  the  Reformation  was  crushed  out  of  Italy.  Poor 
Italy!  For  three  centuries  no  Protestant  Gospel  was  al- 
lowed and  she  was  in  darkness.  But  in  1848  the  kingdom 
of  Piedmont  gave  recognition  to  the  Waldenses.  And  in 
1870,  when  Victor  Emmanuel  captured  Rome,  the  Gospel 
entered  with  his  army.  To-day  the  Waldenses  and  other 
religious  bodies,  notably  the  Methodists,  are  bravely  trying 
to  conquer  Italy  from  the  pope  to  Christ. 

XV.     Peter  Martyr's  Later  Life. 

Peter  Martyr,  when  he  left  Italy,  went  to  Strassburg, 
in  Germany,  where  for  five  years  he  was  professor  in  the 
university.  He  wrote  back  to  his  friends  at  Lucca  his  great 
joy  in  being  in  a  land  of  Gospel  freedom,  where  he  could 
teach  the  whole  truth  without  fear  of  persecution.  In 
1547  Protestantism  was  oppressed  in  southern  Germany  by 
the  introduction  of  the  Interim.  Both  Bucer  and  himself 
were  compelled  to  leave  and  go  to  England,  which  at  that 
time  was  in  great  need  of  men  of  learning  to  support  and 
defend  the  new  Protestant  faith.  While  there  he  labored 
with  great  missionary  zeal  to  convert  England  to  Protestant- 
ism. There,  while  Bucer  became  professor  of  theology  at 
Cambridge,  Martyr  became  professor  of  theology  at  Oxford 
university.  He  found  that  the  Romanizing  elements  in  the 
Church  of  England  were  still  strong,  so  strong  as  to  incite 
a  riot,  and  in  one  of  them  he  was  in  danger  of  loosing  his 


THE   JEWISH   REFORMER  137 

life.  When  the  danger  was  over,  the  young  King  of  Eng- 
land, Edward  VI,  gave  him  an  audience,  warmly  con- 
gratulated him  on  his  escape,  and  promised  him  promotion. 
At  Oxford  even  bishops  attended  his  lectures,  and  he  saw 
much  of  Latimer  and  Ridley,  who,  later,  with  Cranmer, 
suffered  martyrdom  (March  21,  1556)  for  their  faith,  under 
Queen  Mary,  at  Oxford.  When  Bloody  Mary  came  to  the 
throne  he  was  compelled  to  flee.  After  a  perilous  voyage 
he  landed  at  Antwerp,  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  He  went 
to  Strassburg,  but  found  that  the  high  Lutherans  had 
forced  out  the  Reformed  there.  So  he  went  to  Zurich, 
where  he  became  professor  of  Hebrew.  The  only  prominent 
event  in  the  later  part  of  his  life  was  his  attendance  at  the 
Colloquy  at  Poissy  in  France,  where  he  ably  seconded  Beza 
in  his  missionary  effort  to  convert  the  court  of  France. 
He  died  at  Zurich,  November  12,  1562,  deeply  loved  and 
greatly  regretted.  He  was  an  eloquent  preacher  as  well  as 
an  able  theologian. 

THE  JEWS 

XVI.     The  Jewish  Reformer. 

One  other  kind  of  a  Reformer  remains,  and  one  whose 
significance  has  been  little  noticed.  An  attempt  was  made 
at  missions  to  God's  ancient  people,  the  Jews.  It  is  true, 
not  much  was  accomplished,  but  a  beginning  was  attempted. 
Protestantism  had  hardly  begun  to  live  before  she  began  to 
do  missionary  work.  We  have  seen  her  beginning  in  Brazil 
in  1557,  in  a  previous  chapter.  Now  we  notice  a  Reformer 
who,  like  Paul,  could  say,  "Brethren,  my  heart's  desire  and 
prayer  to  God  for  Israel  is  that  they  might  be  saved."* 
This  man  was  himself  a  converted  Jew,  for  Protestantism 
very  early  made  an  appeal,  not  only  to  Catholics,  but  also  to 
Jews.  His  name  was  Immanuel  Tremellius.  He  was  born 
at  Ferrara,  and  early  came  into  contact  with  a  friend  of 

*  Romans  10:  1. 


138  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

Peter  Martyr.  Baptized  a  Christian,  he  soon  became  teacher 
of  Hebrew  in  the  cloister  school  at  Lucca,  which  Peter 
Martyr  had  founded.  Having  been  a  Jew,  he  had  learned 
their  sacred  language,  the  Hebrew;  but  while  teaching 
Hebrew  he  also  learned  what  Protestantism  was.  And  he 
learned,  too,  what  suffering  Protestantism  brought.  For, 
like  his  master,  Peter  Martyr,  he  was  soon  compelled  by 
the  inquisition  to  flee.  He  went  to  Strassburg,  and  there 
taught  with  Peter  Martyr,  and  then  went  with  him  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  taught  Hebrew  in  the  university  of  Cam- 
bridge. Driven  out  of  England  by  the  Marian  persecution, 
he  fled  to  the  continent,  and  sought  a  place  to  teach  in 
different  cities,  but  without  success.  Finally  he  was  called 
as  tutor  to  the  children  of  one  of  the  lesser  princes  of 
Germany,  the  Duke  of  Zweibriicken.  When  the  Lutheranism 
of  his  prince  was  stirred  up,  Tremellius  was  imprisoned 
for  several  months  because  he  was  Reformed. 

He  was  then  called,  in  1561,  to  Heidelberg.  There  he 
was  made  professor  of  Hebrew  and  the  Old  Testament,  and 
held  his  place  for  fifteen  years.  During  this  time  he 
revisited  England,  which  had  again  become  Protestant  under 
Queen  Elizabeth.  He  was  received' there  with  great  honor, 
and  was  called  to  a  professorship,  but  declined.  His  prince, 
Elector  Frederick  III,  of  the  Palatinate,  appreciated  his 
work  at  Heidelberg  so  highly  that  when  Calvin  called  him 
as  professor  for  his  new  theological  school  at  Geneva,  he 
refused  to  let  him  go.  When  Lutheranism  was  reintroduced 
into  Heidelberg,  at  the  death  of  Elector  Frederick  III,  of 
the  Palatinate,  he  was  again  banished,  and  became  pro- 
fessor of  Hebrew  in  the  Reformed  Theological  Semi- 
nary at  Sedan,  in  France.  There  he  died,  October  0, 
1580.  His  greatest  work  was  a  Latin  translation  of  the 
Bible,  made  while  he  was  professor  at  Heidelberg.  But 
more  interesting  to  us  are  his  repeated  efforts  to  prepare 
books  so  that  the  Jews  might  learn  to  know  Christ.  He 
tried  to  lead  the  Jews  to  Jesus,  the  Jews'  Savior.  Thus  he 
translated    Calvin's   catechism    into   Hebrew.     And   he   also 


TREMELLIUS  AS  REFORMER  139 

translated  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  into  Hebrew  for  this 
purpose.  He  stands  out  among  the  Reformed  Reformers  as 
the  great  Jewish  convert  and  professor.  He,  in  the  Reforma- 
tion, revealed  that  holy  intensity  of  zeal  peculiar  to  con- 
verted Jews  (as  Edersheim,  the  author  of  the  best  Life  of 
Christ  in  English),  as  they  try  in  every  way  to  bring  their 
race  to  the  knowledge  of  Christ  as  their  Messiah.  Tremel- 
lius  may  well  be  called  the  father  of  Protestant  missions 
to  the  Jews. 


QUESTIONS 

POLAND 

What  was  Erasmus'  opinion  of  Lasco? 

Where  was  Lasco  born? 

By  whom  was  he  reared  in  boyhood? 

How  did  he  come  into  contact  with  the  Reformed  in  his 
travels? 

What  rumors  were  against  him  on  his  return  to  Poland? 

Why  did  he  leave  Poland? 

What  sacrifices  did  he  make  in  doing  so? 

What  work  did  he  perform  in  East  Friesland? 

When  he  returned  from  England,  in  what  condition  did 
he  find  the  Reformed  Church  at  East  Friesland? 

What  was  his  great  influence  on  Cranmer? 

What  were*  his  relations  to  Hooper  and  the  Puritans? 

Describe  the  Presbyterial  organization  of  his  London 
congregation. 

What  English  martyrs  were  there  in  Queen  Mary's 
reign? 

Where  did  Lasco  and  his  congregation  flee  to? 

What  was  their  reception  by  the  King  of  Denmark? 

What  was  their  treatment  at  Copenhagen? 


140  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

How  were  they  treated  at  Warnemunde,  Wismar  and 
Travemunde? 

Why  were  they  so  persecuted? 
Where  did  they  finally  find  an  asylum? 
What  did  Lasco  do  at  Frankford? 
What  were  his  labors  in  Poland? 

HUNGARY 

Who  were  the  three  Reformers  of  Hungary? 

What  great  Reformer  did  Devay  first  visit? 

When  he  returned  home,  how  was  he  persecuted? 

What  led  him  to  become  Reformed? 

Describe  Szegedin's  early  preaching. 

In  what  respects  did  he  differ  from  Devay  as  a  Re- 
former? 

Describe  Melius  and  how  did  he  aid  the  Reformed? 

Why  did  the  Reformed  doctrines  take  among  the  Hung- 
arians better  than  the  Lutheran? 

How  widely  did  the  Reformation  spread  in  Hungary? 

ITALY 

Name  the  three  great  Reformers  of  Italy. 

Describe  Ochino's  life  and  preaching. 

Describe  Vergerius'  life  and  preaching. 

Describe  Peter  Martyr's  early  life  and  education. 

What  led  him  to  become  a  Protestant? 

Why  did  he  leave  Italy? 

After  leaving  Italy,  where  did  he  go? 

Describe  his  life  in  England. 

Describe  his  life  after  leaving  England. 

THE    JEWS 

Who  among  the  Reformers  was  the  Father  of  Jewish 
Missions? 

How  did  he  become  a  Protestant. 

Where  did  he  teach? 

What  did  he  do  for  the  salvation  of  the  .lews? 


KNOX   AND   MARY,   QUEEN   OF    SCOTS 
From  an  Engraving  in  the  Presbyterian  Historical  Society 


CHAPTER  VIII 
The  Reformers  of  Scotland — Hamilton,  Wish  art 

and  Knox 
I.     Hamilton's  Youth  and  Education. 

Patrick  Hamilton  was  one  of  the  two  prince-reformers, 
Lasco  being  the  other.  His  father  was  Sir  Patrick  Hamil- 
ton and  his  mother  was  of  royal  blood.  He  stands  out  as 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  characters  of  the  Reformation. 
He  was  Scotland's  first  Reformer.  He  was  also  Scotland's 
first  Protestant  martyr,  and  of  all  Scottish  martyrs,  Hamil- 
ton is  the  most  attractive. 

He  was  born  about  1504  at  Glasgow  or  Linlithgow.  Of 
his  youth  and  education  nothing  is  known.  But  having  the 
best  blood  of  Scotland  in  his  veins,  he  grew  up  to  become 
one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  heroic  of  her  sons.  About 
1517  he  attended  the  university  in  Paris  where  he 
took  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1520.  There  he  first 
came  into  contact  with  humanism  and  with  what  was  better 
than  humanism,  namely,  Evangelical  faith.  For  Luther's 
works  were  beginning  to  be  circulated  in  France.  And 
when  the  university  of  Paris  condemned  Luther's  writings, 
Melancthon's  splendid  reply  was  published  and  republished 
there,  so  great  was  the  demand  for  it.  From  Paris,  Hamil- 
ton seems  to  have  gone  to  Louvain  where  Erasmus  was 
living  Then  he  returned  to  Scotland  and  entered  the  uni- 
versity of  St.  Andrews  in  1523.  He  not  only  studied  there 
but  also  composed  a  mass  (for  he  was  a  fine  musician) 
which  was  sung  in  the  cathedral. 

He  seems  to  have  been  gradually  coming  more  and 
more  toward  Protestantism.  As  a  humanist  he  seems  to 
have  especially  disliked  the  monks  because  of  their  hypoc- 
risy. And  though  appointed  Abbot  of  Feme,  he  never 
went  into  residence  as  a  monk  in  his  own  abbey.  Instead 
of  becoming  a  monk  he  became  a  priest.  His  historian, 
Frith,  says  "he  took  upon  him  priesthood,  so  that  he  might 
be  permitted  to  preach  the  Word  of  God."     He  still,  how- 

141 


142  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

ever,  had  no  idea  of  breaking  with  the  Church.  Just  then 
Luther's  works  began  to  come  to  Scotland,  and  the  Scotch 
Parliament  in  July  1525  forbade  the  circulation  of  Luther's 
works.  The  next  year  Hamilton  began  to  openly  declare 
his  adherence  to  Evangelical  doctrines.  Early  in  1527  Cardi- 
nal Beaton,  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church,  began  to  make 
inquiries  about  Hamilton's  heterodoxy,  and  then  proceeded 
to  accuse  him.  Hamilton  was  in  great  peril,  for  Beaton 
had  introduced  the  inquisition.  Suddenly  Hamilton  found 
himself  confronted  with  the  alternative  of  dying  for  his 
doctrine  or  publicly  recanting  it.  So  he  fled  to  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe  in  the  spring  of  1527. 

II.     Hamilton  an  Exile. 

He  went  to  Luther  at  Wittenberg  but  did  not  stay  long. 
For  the  plague  broke  up  the  university  and  compelled  its 
transference  to  Jena.  Hamilton  did  not  follow  it  there  but 
went  to  Marburg,  where  one  of  the  leading  German  Prot- 
estant princes,  Landgrave  Phillip  of  Hesse,  had  just  opened 
a  new  university.  Before  that  time  all  the  universities 
had  had  the  sanction  of  the  pope,  but  this  was  the  first 
Protestant  university  opened  without  asking  the  pope  for 
his  sanction.  Hamilton  enrolled  himself  as  one  of  its  first 
students.  The  Reformer  of  Hesse  had  been  Lambert  of 
Avignon,  who  conceived  for  this  young  disciple  the  warmest 
affection.  Lambert  thus  speaks  to  the  Landgrave  about 
him,  "This  young  scion  of  the  illustrious  family  of  the 
llamiltons,  which  is  closely  allied  by  ties  of  blood  to  the 
King  of  Scotland,  who  although  hardly  twenty-three  years 
of  age,  brings  to  the  study  of  Scripture  a  very  sound  judg- 
ment and  who  has  a  vast  store  of  knowledge,  is  come  from 
the  end  of  the  world  to  be  more  fully  established  in  God's 
truth.  I  have  hardly  ever  met  a  man.  who  expresses  him- 
self with  so  much  spirituality  on  the  Word  of  God." 

While  at  Marburg  he  took  part  in  a  public  disputation. 
The  Landgrave  felt  himself  specially  honored  at  having 
a  prince  from  such  a  distant  country  defend  his  theses. 
They  were  summed  up  in  these  two  topics,  "Christ  is  the 


HAMILTON'S  RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND  143 

author  of  redemption  and  faith  is  the  eye  that  sees  him." 
They  were  published  and  are  the  only  work  that  has  come 
down  to  us  from  his  pen.  They  were  really  a  brief  outline 
of  theology  and  were  named  after  him  "Patrick's  Places".* 
It  was  the  first  work  on  Protestant  theology  in  English. 
The  reading  of  this  booklet  led  a  number  in  Scotland  to 
become  Protestants  and  some  of  them  to  become  martyrs 
for  their  faith. 

III.  Hamilton's  Return  to  Scotland. 

But  he  had  hardly  begun  his  studies  at  Marburg  when 
he  felt  called  upon  to  end  them.  He  felt  that  Scotland  was 
calling  him  over  the  sea.  His  native  land  needed  the  gos- 
pel. He  could  not  resist  the  call.  He  went  home  to  become 
the  first  Protestant  missionary  to  Scotland.  In  the  autumn 
of  1527,  after  being  a  little  more  than  six  months  on  the 
continent,  he  returned  to  his  native  land.  It  .was  a  heroic 
return.  He  must  have  felt  that  to  return  must  mean  death. 
But  he  feared  not  death.  So  out  of  his  love  for  Scotland 
and  for  his  Savior,  he  went  home  to  die.  He  went  first  to 
his  own  family  at  Kincavil  and  told  them  of  the  blessed 
peace  he  had  found  in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  But  his  mis- 
sionary zeal  did  not  permit  him  to  limit  himself  to  his 
family.  He  soon  began  preaching  to  the  people  around 
his  home  and  great  crowds  came  to  hear  him,  for  his 
preaching  was  so  sweet  and  beautiful.  He  then  grew  bolder 
and  preached  in  St.  Michiels  at  Linlithgow.  Listening  to 
his  preaching  was  a  young  maiden  who  accepted  it.  He 
had  given  up  all  ideas  of  monastic  celibacy  and  so  married 
her  at  the  beginning  of  1528. 

IV.  Hamilton  at  St.  Andrew's. 

But  the  arch-enemy  of  Protestantism  in  Scotland,  Cardi- 
nal Beaton,  was  watching  him.  He  did  not,  however,  dare 
send    armed    men    to    take    him.     "For    such    a    Protestant 

*Commonplaces  being  the  name  for  works  on  theology 
in  that  day. 


144  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

missionary  with  royal  blood  in  his  veins,  and  the  Hamilton 
clan  at  his  back,  made  Hamilton  a  more  formidable  heretic 
than  Luther  would  have  been",  says  his  biographer, 
Lorimer.  So  the  Cardinal  resorted  to  strategy  and  perfidy. 
He  sent  young  Hamilton  an  invitation  to  come  to  St. 
Andrew's  for  a  conference  on  religion.  The  simplehearted 
Reformer  walked  into  the  net,  though  not  unconsciously, 
for  he  predicted  that  he  had  not  long  to  live.  But  he  had 
the  courage  of  a  martyr.  He  went  there  in  January,  1528. 
The  conference  was  conciliatory,  and  he  was  given  freedom 
to  preach.  But  all  this  was  part  of  the  plot,  for  he  had 
listeners  who  took  down  what  he  said  and  later  became 
witnesses  against  him.  An  old  student  friend,  Alesius, 
who  was  now  very  prominent  as  a  Catholic,  and  who  had 
desired  to  break  a  lance  with  Luther,  went  to  him,  confident 
that  he  would  convert  him  back  to  Catholicism.  But  lo, 
instead  of  converting  the  Protestant  heretic,  he  was  himself 
converted  to  Protestantism.  For  nearly  a  month  Hamilton 
disputed  in  the  university  on  the  necessity  of  a  reforma- 
tion in  the  Church.  He  reasoned  with  them  as  he  had 
done  in  his  "Patrick's  Places,"  with  all  the  logical  power 
of  Thomas  Aquinas,  but  with  logic  guided  by  Protestantism. 
Like  Paul,  he  reasoned  with  them  out  of  the  Scripture. 
His  teaching  and  preaching  became  so  popular  that  the 
Cardinal  determined  to  strike.  He  was  cited  to  appear 
at  the  archbishop's  palace  to  answer  charges  of  heresy. 
His  friends  urged  him  to  flee  from  the  country.  But  he  had 
returned  to  Scotland  to  lay  down  his  life  for  it,  if  necessary, 
that  thereby  Christ  might  be  glorified;  and  to  turn  his 
back  now  would  lay  a  stumbling-block  in  the  paths  of  those 
who  were  inclined  to  Protestantism.  His  brother,  hearing 
of  his  danger,  came  with  an  armed  force  to  deliver  him. 
But  a  freshet  had  caused  the  Forth  river  to  rise,  and  he 
could  not  cross  it  to  save  Patrick. 

V.     Hamilton's  Death. 

Hamilton    appeared    before    the    Cardinal's    court,    and 
the  charges  against  him  were  read.     He  replied  to  them. 


HAMILTON'S    MARTYRDOM  145 

A  few  days  later  it  was  publicly  announced  that  he  would 
be  sentenced  in  the  cathedral  on  the  last  day  of  February. 
His  house  was  surrounded  by  soldiers  at  night.  When  the 
governor  of  the  castle  opened  the  door,  he  said,  "Here  am 
I."  They  took  him  away  and  threw  him  into  the  dungeon, 
shaped  like  a  bottle,  in  the  castle,  and  about  twenty-five 
feet  deep.*  On  the  day  appointed,  he  was  brought  to  the 
cathedral.  He  there  defended  himself  so  that  he  silenced 
his  enemies.  He  was  condemned  and  led  forth  to  the 
gateway  of  St.  Salvator's  College.  While  they  were  piling 
up  the  wood  for  his  pyre,  he  calmly  took  his  last  meal, 
and  then  inquired  of  the  governor  of  the  castle,  "Is  all 
ready?"  The  governor,  whose  heart  was  breaking  to  see 
such  innocence  and  nobleness  put  to  a  cruel  death,  could 
only  reply,  "God  give  you  a  better  fate."  Joyous  he  went 
to  the  pyre.  There  he  prayed  for  a  few  moments.  The 
bishop  asked  him  to  recant.  "No,"  was  the  reply;  "better 
that  my  body  should  burn  in  your  flames  than  that  my 
soul  should  burn  in  hell  for  having  denied  Him."  Later 
he  added,  "In  the  name  of  Jesus,  I  give  up  my  body  to 
the  fire  and  commit  my  soul  into  the  hands  of  the  Father." 
The  chain  around  his  body  became  red-hot  and  had  almost 
burned  him  in  two.  One  of  the  bystanders  called  out, 
"If  thou  still  holdest  true  the  doctrine  for  which  thou 
diest,  make  us  a  sign."  Two  fingers  of  his  hand  had  been 
consumed,  but  he  raised  the  other  three.  In  the  midst  of 
the  tumult  he  was  heard  to  cry,  "O,  God,  how  long  shall 
darkness  cover  thy  realm."  But  his  arm  began  to  fall. 
"Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit,"  he  was  heard  to  say.  His 
head  drooped,  his  body  sank,  and  his  form  was  reduced  to 
ashes.  And  on  that  spot  where  he  died  can  to-day  be  found 
the  stone  on  which  are  his  initials,  "P.  H.,"  to  mark  the 
place  of  his  burning. 

His    death    made    a    profound    impression.      In    distant 
Germany,  his  friend,  Lambert  of  Avignon,  speaking  of  his 

*  This  dungeon  is  still  there. 


146  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

life  and  death,  said  to  his  prince,  "Such  is  the  flower  of 
surpassing  sweetness,  yea,  the  ripe  fruit  which  your  uni- 
versity produced  at  its  beginning.  You  founded  this  school 
that  from  it  might  go  forth  intrepid  confessors  of  Christ. 
See  you  have  one  such  already."  But  it  was  in  Scotland  that 
the  most  profound  impression  was  made.  "The  reek  of 
Hamilton  infected  as  many  as  it  blew  upon,"  was  the 
saying  in  Scotland.  His  high  rank  as  a  noble,  the  beauty 
of  his  character,  his  youthfulness  (he  was  only  twenty-four 
when  he  died),  all  combined  to  impress  his  native  land. 
His  death  startled  the  minds  of  men  into  attention,  so 
that  they  asked  the  question  why  a  young  nobleman  so 
gifted  and  good  had  been  put  to  death.  The  Catholics 
hoped  to  strangle  the  Reformation  in  its  cradle  by  burning 
him,  but,  says  Lorimer,  "it  proved  an  infant  Hercules,  and 
strangled  the  serpents  that  sought  to  destroy  it."  His  pyre 
lighted  a  light  in  Scotland  that  never  went  out  until  Knox 
in  1560  completed  the  Reformation.  His  father  had  died 
as  a  hero  of  chivalry;  the  son  died  as  a  hero  for  Christ. 
If  Ireland  had  its  St.  Patrick  to  save  it  from  heathenism, 
Scotland  had  its  St.  Patrick  in  Hamilton  the  saint  to 
save  it  from  Romanism. 

VI.     Wishart's  Preaching. 

Sixteen  years  after  Hamilton's  death  another  Reformer 
appeared  in  his  footsteps,  for  then  George  Wishart  returned 
from  England  to  Scotland.  Born  about  1513,  he.  in  1538,  had 
at  Montrose  gotten  hold  of  a  Greek  New  Testament,  which 
he  read  with  several  young  men  whom  he  was  educating. 
And  it  read  itself  into  his  heart.  Cited  to  appear  for  heresy 
before  the  Catholic  bishop,  he  had  left  Scotland  for  Eng- 
land, where  he  studied  at  Cambridge  for  six  years.  About 
L544  he  returned  to  Scotland  with  great  missionary  zeal. 
At  Montrose  and  Dundee  he  preached  the  Word  of  God. 
His  fame  had  preceded  him,  and  many  came  to  hear  him, 
for  since  Hamilton's  time  Protestantism  had  more  and  more 
crept   into   Scotland.     While  he   was   preaching  at  Dundee, 


WISHART'S    PREACHING  147 

.the  priests,  alarmed,  got  an  influential  magistrate  to  rise 
up  while  Wishart  was  finishing  his  discourse,  and  in  the 
name  of  the  authorities  forbid  him  to  preach.  So  he  left 
Dundee  and  went  west  to  Ayrshire,  later  the  home  of  Rob- 
ert Burns,  the  poet.  As  the  Church  of  Ayr  was  closed 
against  him,  he  preached  at  the  market  cross  to  a  larger 
audience  than  the  bishop,  who  locked  him  out  of  the 
Church,  had.  Kept  out  of  the  Church  at  Mauchline,  he 
climbed  a  dike  and  preached  for  three  hours.  Then  he 
heard  that  the  plague  had  broken  out  in  Dundee,  and  he 
hastened  back  there.  As  those  who  were  in  health  were 
within  the  city,  and  those  sick  were  without,  he  took  his 
station  at  the  east  gate  of  the  town,  the  Cowgate,  and 
preached  to  both  the  well  and  the  sick.  While  preaching 
there  an  armed  priest  waited  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  to 
assassinate  him.  Wishart  noticed  it,  seized  the  priest's 
hand,  and  snatched  the  weapon  from  him.  The  crowd 
rushed  on  the  man  to  punish  him.  Wishart  saved  him 
by  throwing  his  arms  around  him  and  saying,  "Whoso 
troubles  him,  troubles  me." 

When  the  plague  ceased  he  went  to  Montrose,  and  while 
there  Cardinal  Beaton  tried  to  trick  him  into  captivity. 
He  sent  Wishart  a  letter  purporting  to  have  been  written 
by  a  sick  friend  who  wanted  him  to  come  and  see  him. 
So  Wishart  started.  Sixty  armed  men  lay  in  wait  for  him 
behind  a  hill.  When  he  came  to  the  other  side  of  the  hill, 
he  suddenly  stopped  and  declared  he  would  go  no  farther. 
When  asked  why  he  acted  so,  he  replied,  "I  am  forbidden 
of  God;  I  am  assured  there  is  treason."  Pointing  to  the 
hill,  he  sent  some  of  his  friends  thither,  who  ran  back  to 
tell  him  of  his  danger.  So  he  escaped,  but  it  was  not  for 
long.  Soon  after  he  set  out  for  Edinburgh.  On  the  way  he 
stopped  at  a  house.  Two  of  his  friends  watched  him  as 
he  went  into  the  garden  of  the  house  after  midnight.  They 
heard  him  sighing  and  groaning,  and  just  as  day  dawned 
they  saw  him  fall  on  his  knees  and  for  an  hour  pray  with 
bitter  tears.     In  the  morning  they  asked  him  for  the  mean- 


148  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

ing  of  this  strange  procedure.  At  first  he  evaded  their 
question,  but  finally  confessed  it  was  because  of  his  ap- 
proaching death.  That  garden  had  been  his  Ciethsemane, 
where,  like  his  Lord,  he  wrestled  in  prayer.  He,  however, 
added,  "This  realm  will  be  illuminated  with  the  light  of 
Christ's  Evangel." 

VII.     Wisharfs  Death. 

After  preaching  in  various  places,  he  finally  came  to 
Haddington,  where  he  stayed  one  night  at  the  country-seat 
of  the  Lord  of  Ormiston.  That  night  the  house  was  sur- 
rounded by  armed  men.  The  Lord  of  Ormiston  refused  to 
give  him  up.  But  the  Catholics  got  the  most  powerful  noble 
of  that  part  of  the  country,  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  to  come 
and  give  his  word  that  Wishart  would  not  be  harmed.  So 
Wishart  was  carried  away  to  the  Earl's  Castle.  But  the 
Cardinal  bought  off  the  Earl  with  money,  and  so  Wishart 
was  given  over  to  Cardinal  Beaton,  who  put  him  in  the 
same  bottle-dungeon  in  the  castle  of  St.  Andrew's  where 
Hamilton  had  been  imprisoned.  Then  he  was  called  before 
the  cardinal's  court  and  charged  with  heresy.  He  ably 
replied,  but  was  ordered  to  be  burned  on  the  next  day.  As 
they  refused  him  the  Lord's  Supper,  because  he  was  a 
heretic,  he  celebrated  it  at  breakfast  with  the  governor  of 
the  castle.  On  March  1,  1546,  just  west  of  the  castle,  but 
several  blocks  away  from  where  Hamilton  had  been  burned, 
he  was  put  to  death.  Before  his  death  he  said,  "I  fear  not. 
But  I  know  surely  that  my  soul  shall  sup  with  my  Savior 
Christ  this  night."  The  hangman  fell  on  his  knees  before 
him  and  begged  his  forgiveness.  Wishart  kissed  him  as  a 
token  of  his  forgiveness.  There  is  a  tradition  that,  as  the 
fire  gathered  around  him,  the  governor  of  the  castle  cried 
out,  "Take  courage."  He  replied,  "This  fire  torment-  my 
body,  but  in  no  way  abates  my  spirit."  Then,  catching 
sight  of  Cardinal  Beaton  at  a  window  of  a  house,  he  uttered 
a  prophecy,  "He  who  from  that  high  place  feedeth  his 
eyes  on  my   torment,   within   a   few   days  shall   be   hanged, 


KNOX'S  EARLY  LIFE  149 

but  at  the  same  window" — a  prophecy  which  came  true 
three  months  later,  as  some  of  Beaton's  enemies,  together 
with  Wishart's  friends,  secretly  entered  his  castle,  murdered 
him,  and  threw  his  body  out  of  that  very  window.  Thus 
Wishart,  like  Elijah,  went  up  to  heaven  in  a  chariot  of  fire. 
God  took  the  workmen,  but  continued  their  work.  The 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church.  Hamilton 
and  Wishart,  like  Abel,  being  dead,  yet  continued  to  speak, 
as  more  witnesses  of  the  faith  rose  (and  some  were  put 
to  death),  until  Knox  came.  Scotland  has  been  bought  with 
Christ's  blood  and  also  with  the  blood  of  such  martyrs  as 
Hamilton  and  Wishart. 

VIII.     Knox's  Birth  and  Conversion. 

A  man  holding  a  sword  before  him,  whose  point  rests 
on  the  ground, — such  is  the  statue  of  Zwingli,  the  Reformer, 
in  the  city  of  Zurich.  A  man  holding  a  two-handed  sword 
before  him, — so  John  Knox  enters  history.  Thus  the  first 
Reformer,  Zwingli,  and  one  of  the  last  of  the  Reformers, 
Knox,  appear  alike.  Knox,  like  Calvin,  belonged  to  the 
second  generation  of  the  Reformers,  and  completed  what 
Hamilton  and  Wishart  had  begun.  He  was  a  Reformer  of 
many  lands,  more  perhaps  than  any  other  of  the  Reformers, 
for  he  labored  in  England,  France,  Germany  and  Switzerland 
as  well  as  in  Scotland.  He  was  a  great  missionary  force 
wherever  he  went. 

Knox  first  appears  prominently  as  the  bearer  of  the 
two-handed  sword,  which  he  carried  before  George  Wishart 
as  his  guard.  Almost  nothing  is  known  of  his  previous 
life.  He  was  born  probably  in  1515,  at  or  near  Haddington. 
He  studied  at  the  university  of  Glasgow.  Then  for  many 
years  we  hear  nothing  of  him.  Thomas  William,  the 
Regent's  Chaplain,  was  Knox's  earliest  instructor  in  Evan- 
gelical doctrine.  Of  his  conversion  we  know  nothing,  except 
that  just  before  he  died,  he  told  his  wife  that  it  was  on  the 
seventeenth  chapter  of  John  that  his  soul  first  cast  anchor. 
Then  Wishart,  in  one  of  his  preaching  tours,  came  to  the 


150  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

noble  family  of  Ormiston,  where  Knox  was  tutor.  It  was 
in  this  house  that  Wisnart,  as  we  have  seen,  was  arrested. 
Knox  wanted  to  accompany  him.  But  Wishart,  foreseeing 
his  end,  said,  "Nay;  return  to  thy  pupils,  and  God  bless 
you.  One  is  sufficient  for  the  sacrifice."  And  thus,  while 
Wi.shart  went  to  death,  Knox  was  spared  from  death  for 
great  purposes.  But  Wishart  greatly  influenced  him,  for 
he  left  with  him  a  book  he  had  brought  from  the  continent, 
Bullinger's  Confession  of  Faith,  the  First  Helvetic  Con- 
fession. 

The  assassination  of  Cardinal  Beaton,  after  Wishart's 
martyrdom,  led  to  a  reaction  against  the  Protestants,  from 
whose  persecutions  Knox  only  escaped  by  a  constant  change 
of  residence.  He  finally,  together  with  his  pupils,  took 
refuge  (1547)  in  the  castle  of  St.  Andrew's,  where  the  con- 
spirators against  Beaton  were  being  besieged.  In  the  chapel 
of  the  castle  he  resumed  the  instruction  of  his  pupils  on 
the  Gospel  of  John.  But  this  tutor  of  boys  became  the 
leader  of  men.  Soon  the  garrison  and  the  refugees  gathered 
with  them  to  hear  his  teaching.  His  ability  and  success 
led  to  his  call  into  the  ministry.  John  Rough,  one  of  the 
ministers,  preached  one  day  on  the  ministry;  and  then, 
in  the  name  of  all  present  in  the  congregation,  he  made  a 
public  appeal  to  Knox  to  become  a  minister.  Knox  burst 
into  tears  and  withdrew  to  his  chamber,  for  he  had 
scruples  about  accepting  the  responsibilities  of  so  high  an 
office.  But  the  next  Sunday  he  preached  his  first  sermon 
against  the  papacy  with  such  great  force  that  his  hearers 
said  of  him.  "Maister  Wishart  spoke  never  so,  and  yet  he 
was  burned,  even  so  will  he  be."  Then  in  a  disputation 
with  the  Catholics  he,  by  the  use  of  Scripture  proofs,  drove 
his  opponents  into  a  corner,  so  that  the  latter  declared 
that  when  the  apostles  wrote  their  Epistles  they  had  not 
yet  received  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  also  celebrated  the  Lord's 
Supper  like  the  Reformed  on  the  continent. 

IX.     Knox  in  the  Galleys. 

After  Knox  had  been  at  St.  Andrew's  about  four  months. 


KNOX  IN  THE   GALLEYS  151 

a-  French  fleet  appeared  before  the  town  and  compelled  it 
to  surrender.  The  French  took  Knox  with  others  as  pris- 
oners, and  made  them  galley-slaves  for  nineteen  months. 
Many  years  later  he  thus  refers  to  his  sufferings,  "How 
long  I  continued  in  prison,  and  what  torment  I  sustained 
in  the  galleys,  and  what  were  the  sobs  of  my  heart,  there 
is  no  time  to  repeat."  Other  Reformers  there  were  who 
died  for  their  faith,  but  he  then  suffered  a  living  death; 
and  he  was  the  only  one  of  the  Reformers  who  went  through 
that  sort  of  martyrdom. 

Of  this  period  two  interesting  incidents  have  come 
down  to  us.  Soon  after  his  galley  arrived  at  Nantes,  in 
France,  a  gaudily  painted  image  of  Mary  was  offered  to 
one  of  them,  probably  Knox.  He  replied,  "Trouble  me  not; 
such  an  object  is  accursed,  and  therefore  I  dare  not  touch 
it."  But  they  forced  it  on  him  and  put  it  between  his 
hands.  Whereat  he  threw  it  into  the  river,  saying,  "Let 
the  lady  now  save  herself.  She  is  light  enough.  Let  her 
learn  to  swim."  The  other  incident  occurred  when  his  galley 
had  been  taken  back  to  Scotland.  As  it  lay  opposite  St. 
Andrew's,  Knox,  then  very  sick,  was  asked  if  he  recognized 
St.  Andrew's.  "Yes,"  he  replied,  "I  know  it  well,  for  I  see 
the  steeple  of  the  place  where  I  first  opened  my  mouth  to 
His  glory."  And  then  he  added  this  prophecy,  "And  I  am 
fully  persuaded,  though  I  am  very  sick  now,  that  I  shall 
not  depart  this  life  until  my  tongue  shall  glorify  His  godly 
name  in  the  same  place."  This  prophecy  was,  as  we  shall 
see,  fulfilled  many  years  after.  At  last,  in  1549,  he  was 
set  free. 

X.     Knox  in  England. 

As  a  return  to  Scotland  would  mean  that  he  would 
suffer  the  same  fate  as  his  spiritual  father,  Wishart,  he 
remained  in  England,  where  Evangelical  preachers  were 
greatly  needed  since  Edward  VI  had  come  to  the  throne. 
The  Anglican  Church  licensed  him,  asking  no  questions  as 
to    whether   he   had    been    episcopally    ordained.      For   five 


152  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

years,  with  true  missionary  zeal,  he  was  a  minister  of  that 
Church,  first  at  Berwick  and  then  at  Newcastle  on  Tyne. 
Then  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  royal  chaplains,  and  often 
preached  in  London.  He  refused,  it  is  said,  the  bishopric 
of  Rochester.  He  left,  however,  a  permanent  impress  on 
the  Anglican  Church  by  his  opposition  to  kneeling  at  the 
Lord's  Supper.  This  is  shown  in  the  Prayer-book  of  1552, 
where  a  rubric  was  inserted  explaining  that  this  kneeling 
means  no  adoration  of  the  elements.  "This,"  said  a  later 
ritualist,  "was  the  act  of  runagate  Scot."  But  when  Mary 
came  to  the  throne  of  England  he  was  compelled  to  flee, 
and  went  to  the  continent  for  four  and  a  half  years. 

XI.     Knox  on  the  Continent. 

In  1554  he  was  called  to  be  pastor  of  the  English 
Refugee  Church  at  Frankfort,  in  Germany.  And  here  during 
his  pastorate  occurred  a  great  controversy  which  was  the 
prophecy  of  the  later  Puritan  controversy  that  so  long 
divided  the  Anglican  Church.  His  congregation  was  re- 
quired by  the  Lutheran  authorities  of  Frankfort  to  con- 
form to  the  Calvinistic  liturgy  of  the  Walloon  refugee 
church,  which  had  come  to  Frankfort  some  time  before 
them.  So  the  Anglican  Prayer-book  was  modified  by  leaving 
out  the  litany  and  the  responses,  together  with  a  few  other 
changes.  These  changes  suited  Knox  and  some  of  the 
congregation  who  preferred  the  simpler  Reformed  worship. 
But  later  a  colony  of  English  refugees  arrived,  led  by 
Cox,  who  had  been  one  of  the  compilers  of  the  Prayer-book. 
They  demanded  the  full  use  of  that  liturgy.  And,  by 
bringing  a  charge  of  treason  against  Knox  for  having  com- 
pared the  Emperor  Charles  V  to  Nero,  they  led  the  city 
government  to  demand  Knox's  departure.  He  went  to 
Geneva,  where  he  was  gladly  welcomed  by  Calvin,  who  had 
sympathized  with  him  in  his  troubles  at  Frankford,  and 
had  written  him  a  letter  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  Anglican 
Prayer-book  as  having  "many  tolerably  foolish  things," — 
a    charge    for    which    the   Anglican    Church    has   never    for- 


KNOX'S   RETURN  TO   SCOTLAND  153 

given  him.  Knox  organized  the  English  Church  at  Geneva, 
and  soon  the  congregation  numbered  more  than  two  hun- 
dred. His  stay  at  Geneva  was  the  happiest  time  of  his  life. 
There  he  had  the  kind  of  worship  he  liked,  and  also  a 
congenial  friend  in  Calvin,  to  whom  he  always  looked  up  as 
a  father.  And  his  congregation,  too,  had  in  it  scholars  of 
first  rank,  as  Coverdale.  The  congregation,  though  small, 
was  charged  with  great  destinies,  for  out  of  it  Came  Pres- 
byterianism  in  Scotland  and  also  Puritanism  in  England. 
One  of  its  most  influential  acts  was  the  publication  by 
Whittingham  of  the  Genevan  Bible,  the  most  popular  of  the 
early  English  versions. 

XII.     Knox's  Return  to  Scotland. 

After  twelve  years  of  exile  from  Scotland,  during 
which  time  he  had  visited  his  native  land  once  (1555-6), 
he  started  to  return  to  Scotland  after  the  death  of 
Queen  Mary  of  England  in  1558.  He  was,  however,  halted 
at  Dieppe  by  his  friends  in  Scotland,  countermanding  their 
invitation  to  him  to  return.  So,  as  he  was  possessed  of 
the  true  missionary  spirit,  he  began  preaching  for  the 
Ili.guenots  at  Dieppe.  He  founded  the  Huguenot  Church 
there,  and  his  converts  were  so  many  that  it  afterward 
became  one  of  the  strongholds  of  the  Reformed  Church 
of  Prance. 

Finally  the  way  opened  for  him  to  return  to  Scot- 
land, May  2,  1559.  The  Reformation  had  been  gaining 
power  there,  especially  among  the  nobles,  so  that  in  Decem- 
ber, 1557,  the  Protestant  nobles  had  drawn  up  a  covenant, 
which  organized  them  into  a  party.  The  political  situation 
helped  their  cause,  as  many  of  the  Scotch  had  grown 
restive  against  the  growing  domination  of  France  in  Scotch 
affairs.  Knox  arrived  at  Scotland  at  the  psychological 
moment.  Although  much  of  the  political  power  of  the 
Protestants  had  been  due  to  James  Stewart  and  the  Duke 
of  Argyle,  yet  it  was  due  no  less  to  Knox,  for  in  him 
Protestantism    found    a    religious   leader.      He   became   the 


154  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

great  missionary  and  evangelist  to  call  Scotland  to  Christ. 
The  crisis  that  occurred  when  he  arrived  was  that  the 
Queen  Regent  had  ordered  the  Protestant  preachers  to  ap- 
pear before  her  at  Stirling,  May  10,  1559.  Instead  they 
gathered  at  Perth,  and  there  Knox  made  his  first  public 
appearance  in  Scotland  with  the  Dundee  contingent.  There 
Knox  sounded  the  trumpet  call  of  Protestantism  by  preach- 
ing a  series  of  sermons  against  the  idolatries  of  Rome.  At 
the  end  of  one  of  his  sermons  a  priest  came  in  to  celebrate 
mass.  As  a  boy  made  some  comment  on  his  act,  the  priest 
gave  him  a  cuff  on  the  ear.  But  the  boy  was  ready,  and 
retaliated  with  a  stone,  which,  missing  the  priest,  struck 
and  broke  an  image.  That  was  a  sufficient  signal.  The 
Protestants  cleared  the  churches  of  images  and  relics  of 
Romanism.  The  Regent  saw  in  this  an  opportunity  against 
Protestantism,  so  she  marched  her  army  against  Perth.  It 
finally  surrendered.  But  she  violated  her  promise  to  them 
to  permit  Protestant  worship. 

So  the  Protestants  withdrew  to  St.  Andrew's.  And  so 
Knox  fulfilled  his  prophecy  of  years  before, — he  preached 
the  Gospel  again  at  St.  Andrew's.  Then  the  Protestants 
captured  Perth  and  Edinburgh,  and  Knox  preached  there 
in  St.  Giles  Cathedral.  Then  the  tide  turned,  for  the 
Catholics  received  help  from  France.  The  Protestants  were 
defeated  at  Leith,  and  retreated  in  great  disorder  to  Stirling 
and  St.  Andrew's.  Knox  went  to  the  latter  place.  The 
Regent  tried  to  drive  them  out  of  St.  Andrew's.  Their 
extremity  was  then  so  great  that  the  Regent  exclaimed, 
"Where  is  now  John  Knox,  his  God?  My  God  is  stronger 
than  his,  yes,  even  in  Fife."*  Knox's  anxiety  now  pierced 
his  heart  more  than  all  the  torments  of  the  galleys.  But 
still  he  never  doubted  that  the  Gospel  would  triumph.  Then 
providence  sent  help.  England  sent  an  army,  so  that  they 
captured  Edinburgh.  By  July  6  peace  was  made,  and  the 
Protestants   were   masters   of   the   kingdom.      Knox    in    all 

*  The  district  of  Fife  was  largely  Protestant. 


KNOX  AND  QUEEN  MARY  155 

these  campaigns  was  not  only  army-chaplain,  but  he  was 
also  secretary,  penning  dispatches  and  negotiating  with 
England  for  help,  yes,  even  haggling  with  her  about  the 
sums  of  money  to  be  paid  to  the  Scotch  nobles,  it  was  said. 
But  his  voice  put  more  fire  into  the  men  than  five  hundred 
trumpets. 

However,  though  peace  had  come,  much  still  remained 
to  be  done.  The  appeal  that  had  most  influenced  Scotland 
had  been  political  and  not  religious.  The  nobles  had  grown 
jealous  of  the  foreign  French  dominion.  It  remained  for 
Knox  to  complete  this  political  reformation  by  a  religious 
reformation.  Fortunately  the  state  was  now  on  his  side, 
and  one  of  the  early  acts  of  the  Scotch  Parliament  of  1560 
was  the  forbidding  of  the  mass,  under  severe  penalties. 

XIII.     Knox  and  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots. 

Suddenly  an  event  occurred  that  changed  the  whole 
situation.  Queen  Mary  returned  from  France  to  Scotland 
on  August  19,  1561.  Then  came  the  tremendous  struggle 
between  Knox  and  Queen  Mary — one  of  the  great  duels  in 
history  between  two  religions  and  also  between  fashion 
and  worldliness  in  Mary  on  the  one  side,  and  intense 
spirituality  and  Puritanism  in  Knox  on  the  other.  On  the 
Sunday  after  her  arrival,  she  celebrated  mass  in  Holyrood 
Castle,  just  south  of  Edinburgh.  Knox  thundered  against 
this  from  his  pulpit  at  St.  Giles  Cathedral  in  Edinburgh, 
about  a  mile  away.  He  declared  that  the  mass  was  for- 
bidden by  law,  and  said  that  "one  mass  was  more  fearful 
to  him  than  the  landing  of  ten  thousand  armed  enemies." 
Mary  decided  to  win  him,  and  so  invited  him  to  an  inter- 
view in  her  castle,  August  26.  But  she  found  a  man  on 
whom  her  smiles  and  blandishments,  usually  so  powerful, 
had  no  effect.  His  replies  completely  silenced  her.  A  sec- 
ond time  he  was  called  before  her,  for  a  sermon  that  he 
had  preached  against  the  persecutions  of  the  Huguenots  in 
France,  in  celebration  of  which  the  queen  had  had  a  ball 
at  Holyrood  castle.    As  he  was  going  out  of  this  interview. 


156  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

some  papists,  seeing  his  "merry  countenance,"  said  of  him, 
"He  is  not  afraid."  He  overheard  it,  and  replied,  "Why 
should  the  pleasing  face  of  a  gentlewoman  make  me  afraid? 
I  have  looked  into  the  faces  of  many  angry  men,  and  yet 
not  been  afraid  above  measure."  But  the  most  stormy 
interview  occurred  in  June,  1563,  when  the  rumor  went 
abroad  that  Mary  was  to  marry  the  Catholic  king  of  Spain. 
Knox  denounced  this  with  such  force  from  his  pulpit  that 
even  his  friends  were  displeased.  The  queen,  when  he  came 
in,  was  in  a  towering  passion,  and  she  had  called  him  to  the 
castle  for  the  express  purpose  of  silencing  him.  But  Knox 
was  not  a  man  to  be  silenced,  especially  when  he  believed 
religion  to  be  at  stake.  During  the  period  of  these  inter- 
views, of  which  there  were  five,  Knox  was  virtually  the 
uncrowned  king  of  Scotland,  as  at  St.  Giles  Cathedral  he 
thundered  against  Mary  and  the  papacy  in  Holyrood  palace. 

But  after  this  last  interview  Knox's  life  was  in  peril, 
for  the  queen's  example  was  telling  on  the  country.  Those 
who  came  up  to  Edinburgh  to  protest  against  her  celebra- 
tion of  the  mass  somehow  cooled  when  they  came  into  con- 
tact with  her  court.  And  they  went  home  with  the  idea  that 
the  mass  was  not  so  dangerous  after  all.  The  holy  water 
of  the  court  sprinkled  on  them  took  away  their  fervency. 
The  priests  took  advantage  of  this  feeling,  and  here  and 
there  throughout  the  land  they  began  to  celebrate  mass. 
It  was  a  question  whether  the  queen  might  not  ultimately 
gain  the  day,  especially  as  Mary's  blandishments  were 
undermining  the  virtue  of  the  Protestant  nobility. 

But  suddenly  Mary  threw  all  her  chances  away.  She 
married  her  cousin,  Darnley.  This  act  cost  her  some  of 
her  best  counsellors.  Darnley,  though  young  and  beautiful, 
was  a  fool,  and  she  soon  tired  of  him  for  Rizzio,  an  Italian 
of  her  court.  Then  Rizzio,  her  favorite,  was  assassinated, 
March  9,  1566.  Matters,  however,  had  been  dark  for  the 
Protestants  after  the  queen's  marriage,  especially  as  Knox 
had  been  forbidden  to  preach  in  Edinburg  when  the  king 
and    queen    were    there.      They    became    darker    after    the 


KNOX'S  LAST  YEARS  157 

assassination  of  Rizzio,  for  some  of  the  Protestant  leaders 
were  implicated  in  that  act  and  had  to  flee.  Knox  had  to 
retire  to  Ayrshire.  He  returned,  however,  to  Edinburgh, 
as  Mary's  new  favorite  was  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  a  nominal 
Protestant.  But  just  then  the  queen  restored  the  Catholic 
archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's  to  his  jurisdiction.  This  was 
the  most  daring  act  that  Mary  had  done,  and  Knox  knew 
not  what  to  expect  next.  Then  Darnley  was  assassinated. 
And  three  months  after,  the  queen  was  married  to  Both- 
well.  Horror  at  this  caused  a  revolution  against  Mary  on 
the  part  of  many  of  the  Scotch  nobles,  both  Catholic  and 
Protestant.  Mary's  forces  were  defeated,  and  she  was  im- 
prisoned in  Loch  Leven  Castle.  Mary's  infant  son,  James, 
was  crowned  king,  and  Knox  preached  the  coronation  ser- 
mon on  the  Coronation  of  Joash.  The  next  parliament  in 
1567  confirmed  the  acts  of  1560,  forbidding  Catholicism  in 
Scotland.  On  May  2,  1568,  Mary  escaped  from  Loch  Leven 
and  took  refuge  in  England.  Thus  Knox  and  Protestantism 
triumphed. 

XIV.     Knox's  Last  Years. 

But,  alas,  the  good  Protestant  regent,  Moray,  was  soon 
after  assassinated,  January  23,  1570,  an  irreparable  loss  to 
Knox.  The  situation  was  still  somewhat  uncertain  in  Scot- 
land. Even  the  castle  at  Edinburgh  sided  with  Mary 
against  the  Protestants  who  controlled  the  city.  Knox  was 
in  danger.  A  shot  was  fired  into  his  house,  but  missed 
him  because  he  accidentally,  or,  rather,  providentially,  had 
left  his  accustomed  seat.  By  this  time  Knox  began  to 
reveal  the  infirmities  of  age,  superinduced  by  his  worries 
and  cares.  He  was  now  a  broken  man  physically.  His  last 
public  act  was  the  installation  of  his  successor,  Lawson,  at 
St.  Giles  Cathedral.  His  voice  was  then  so  weak  that  he 
could  not  be  heard  in  that  great  edifice.  The  last  night  of 
his  life  he  had  a  great  wrestling  with  a  new  temptation, 
namely,  that  his  good  works  were  sufficient  in  the  sight 
of  God  to  save  him.    Later  asked  to  give  a  parting  sign  that 


158  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

he  was  in  peace,  he  lifted  his  hand  and  passed  away.  At 
his  funeral  the  regent,  Morton,  uttered  the  memorable 
eulogy,  "Here  lies  one  who  neither  flattered  nor  feared 
any  flesh." 

XV.  His  Character. 

So  died  Knox,  a  man  of  superb  faith  in  the  face  of 
greatest  difficulties, — a  man  of  impulsiveness,  so  that  he 
sometimes  made  mistakes.  But  he  was  a  man  of  prayer, 
so  that  Queen  Mary  trembled  at  his  prayers.  He  more 
nearly  approached  Farel  in  his  character  than  any  of  the 
other  Reformers,  except  that  he  had  certain  elements  of 
Calvin's  statesmanship.  He  had  the  fervor  peculiar  to  the 
Scotch  in  oratory.  When  he  preached,  he  fused  logic  and 
passion,  and  stormed  at  once  the  head  and  the  heart  of 
his  hearers.  Says  his  biographer,  "He  was  one  of  the  four 
great  Scotchmen,"  Buchanan,  Burns  and  Carlyle  being  the 
other  three. 

XVI.  Conclusion. 

In  closing  this  work,  the  author  can  only  express  the 
hope  that  this  study  of  the  zeal  of  the  Reformers  for  the 
salvation  of  their  age  may  prove  to  be  a  stimulus  to  us  to 
be  missionaries  in  our  age.  How  much  we  owe  to  the 
Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century!  But  for  them  we 
would  still  be  in  the  superstitions  and  darkness  of  Roman- 
ism. Shall  we  not  show  our  thankfulness  to  them  by  giv- 
ing the  precious  Gospel  of  God's  grace,  which  they  preached, 
to  those  in  our  day  who  have  it  not?  May  their  mission- 
ary zeal  lay  hold  of  us,  and  may  the  Spirit  of  God  so  fill 
all  who  study  this  book  that  we  may  have  a  new  era  of 
the   Evangelism    of  the   Reformation. 


QUESTIONS  159 

QUESTIONS 

What  was  the  significance  of  Patrick  Hamilton  among 
the  Reformers? 

How  was  he  educated? 

How  was  he  converted? 

Why  did  he  flee  to  Europe? 

Where  did  he  go? 

What  was  the  name  of  his  book,  and  what  his  influence 
on  Scotland? 

Why  did  he  go  back  to  Scotland? 

To  whom  did  he  first  preach? 

How  did  Cardinal  Beaton  get  hold  of  him? 

How  was  he  arrested  and  condemned? 

Describe  his  martyrdom. 

What  was  the  effect  of  his  martyrdom  on  Scotland? 

Describe  Wishart's  early  life. 

Describe  his  preaching  in  Dundee  and  Ayrshire. 

How  did  Cardinal  Beaton  try  to  trick  him  so  as  to 
capture  him? 

Describe  his  arrest  and  captivity. 

Describe  his  martyrdom. 

What  prophecy  did  he  utter  at  his  death,  and  how 
fulfilled? 

Describe  the  conversion  of  Knox. 

Describe  his  call  to  the  ministry. 

What  was  his  life  as  a  galley  slave. 

Describe  his  preaching  in  England. 

Why  did  he  leave  England,  and  where  did  he  go? 

What  was  the  controversy  at  Frankford? 

Describe  his  pastorate  at  Geneva. 

What  missionary  work  did  he  do  at  Dieppe? 

When  did  he  at  last  return  to  Scotland? 

How  did  his  arrival  in  Scotland  affect  the  Protestant 
cause? 

Describe  his  preaching  at  Perth. 

Describe  the  war  between  the  Catholics  and  Protestants. 


160  FAMOUS  REFORMERS 

How  did  the  return  of  Mary  affect  the  Protestant  cause? 
Describe    any    of    the    interviews    between    Knox    and 
Queen  Mary. 

How  was  Mary  winning  the  Protestants  to  her  side? 

How  did  Mary  throw  away  her  cause? 

What  finally  became  of  her? 

What  dangers  still  gathered  around  Knox? 

Describe  his  death. 

What  was  his  character? 


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